Mental health funding ‘must urgently’ deliver front-line staff

Mental health funding must “urgently deliver front-line staff”, the President of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland has warned.

Speaking just before the College’s winter conference in Naas, Co Kildare, Dr Lorcan Martin said spending on mental health services must lead directly to approved doctor and multi-disciplinary team member posts being filled to ensure patient outcomes “are not compromised”. 

“The front line must be prioritised because that is where care is delivered,” said Dr Martin. “It is not acceptable that posts are left vacant for years on end or that it can take 12-18 months to replace a vital team member. If money must be saved, let us look towards inefficiency and if posts are to be filled let us streamline the process so that it happens promptly.”

The President described it as an “imperative” that budget provisions are allocated primarily for frontline staff who “support some of the most vulnerable in our society”, along with service improvement. 

He added that all mental health specialties had been decimated by the “blunt and brutal” instruments of the HSE pay and numbers strategy, which had had a “significantly negative effect” on patient care and doctor morale.

Separately, Dr Martin highlighted that psychiatrists and other medical professionals across the country were being regularly subjected to threatening and abusive behaviour in person and on social media.

He warned this was having a “hugely concerning” effect on the wellbeing of those who are being targeted and he called for urgent action to be taken to address this growing concern. 

“It is not acceptable that medical professionals are being subjected to this kind of abuse. If we cannot feel safe, is it any wonder that our colleagues are burning out and that staff retention is such a problem?”