Fianna Fáil Senator Eugene Murphy has welcomed the new e-mental health hub which was launched in Castlerea this week, but he has raised concerns over staffing levels for the centre.
The new e-mental health hub aims to provide psychiatric help to young people and it also aims to ensure that older people with mental health issues can remain in their own homes for as long as possible.
“The e-hub is located on the site of the former Rosalie Unit in Castlerea and essentially it will be a CAMHS Connect service which involves all the CAMHS services in the West and naturally this is a most welcome move but I would issue a word of caution over staffing levels,” said Senator Murphy.
“I understand that four staff are being recruited at the moment for this new e-mental health hub but I have been informed that in the region of twenty to thirty staff will be needed to fully staff this centre. We need clarification on the recruitment of staff and how long it will take to have the centre working at full capacity.
Crosby welcomes new approach
Cllr. Tom Crosby said he welcomed the innovative new approach to mental health care – known as CAMHS Connect – which will form the core of the new Castlerea e-mental health hub.
Cllr. Crosby said that the unique initiative is “the first of its kind in Ireland”. He described it as “a major and exciting project which aims to fully modernise mental health care nationally by incorporating pilot tele-psychiatry projects by the HSE across different mental health care settings such as adult services, Addiction and Substance Abuse care, GPs and Primary Care and Mental Health Intellectual Disability”.
