Limited capacity at Cork mental health facility

The HSE has confirmed that three young people are in triage for a potential place in Eíst Linn child and adult mental health inpatient service in Cork city, where capacity is reduced due to staffing shortages.

Located in Blackrock, the only inpatient Camhs facility in Munster has 16 single en-suite bedrooms.

The HSE confirmed that only 10 of these are in use at the moment, calling it a planned reduction as a “temporary measure which reflects the safe operational capacity of the unit at present due to the departure of two consultant psychiatrists”.

A HSE spokesperson has confirmed: “Current referral information for Éist Linn shows that there are three young people in triage, with clinical decisions and/or assessments pending by a consultant psychiatrist.

“Éist Linn is a supraregional service covering Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Wexford, South Tipperary, and Kilkenny, so activity is not limited to Cork or Kerry.

“As an acute mental health approved centre, Éist Linn admits young people with acute presentations for assessment and treatment, before discharging them back to their community Camhs teams in line with a recovery-focused model of care.”

The spokesperson had previously said recruitment to enhance capacity is “actively under way”, and once staffing is fully in place, it is the intention to restore capacity to the full complement of 16 beds.

However, annual reports from the Mental Health Commission from 2017 to 2024 show that the centre was only compliant in the area of staffing in one of the eight years, 2020; and that the centre was not at capacity occupation in any of the eight reports, with vacancy ranging from 25% to 56%.