HSE launches new mental health office dedicated to young people

A new mental health office for Irish young people has been launched by the HSE for the first time. 

The office will provide for coordinated input across service, legislative and policy developments for all child and youth mental health areas, from prevention and early intervention to the specialised Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

A new HSE National Clinical Lead for Youth Mental Health has already taken up post – Dr Amanda Burke - with a new Assistant National Director for Child and Youth Mental Health starting later this month.

They will be supported by additional and dedicated staff for the National Office.  

Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, made the announcement today (September 11) and said, "The development of a dedicated new HSE National Youth Mental Health Office has been a priority for me and I am really pleased to launch this significant new initiative, that will drive actual progress on the ground.

"The new National Office is essential to tackling many acknowledged and evolving challenges facing youth mental health overall. Our specialist CAMHS service, in tandem with its Primary Care and NGO counterparts, have risen to unprecedented challenges in recent times, in light of increasing demand and case complexity, staffing vacancies, COVID-19 impacts and online safety issues to name but a few. I have championed this new National Office to fruition and will continue to support it to achieve its short and long-term potential." 

She added: "The new National Youth Mental Health Office will, for example, contribute to the comprehensive and complex update of the Mental Health Act 2001, which will benefit many young people in the future and which I am prioritising through the Oireachtas.

"Key immediate priorities for the National Office will be to drive implementation of relevant recommendations of our national mental health policy Sharing the Vision, including transition care for those reaching age 18 and beyond. It will be key to delivering the record funding of €1.2 billion provided by this government for Mental Health in 2023 – an increase of some €220 million since I became Minister – and for additional investment envisaged for 2024 and beyond." 

Other priorities for the new National Office will include improved links to other care programmes such as primary care and disability services, as well as external agencies across the education, childcare and youth justice fields. 

It will also underpin current and planned initiatives arising from the recent Maskey and Mental Health Commission Reports on CAMHS, as well as the forthcoming HSE audits on the current CAMHS Operational Guidelines and Service User experience. 

The launch of the new National Youth Mental Health Office follows the launch last Thursday by Minister Butler of the new Model of Care for CAMHS Hubs nationally, with the HSE piloting new sites across five Community Health Organisations (CHOs).