*HSE CEO, Bernard Gloster.
A SITE IN PARTEEN is to be made available for the East Clare Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and is expected to be ready by the end of March 2023.
East Clare CAMHS are due to move into the site at Inisgile in Parteen at the end of March. The team currently comprises of 10.5 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff with one vacancy for a social worker which is expected to be filled over the coming months.
West Clare CAMHS has a complement of 11.5 WTE staff with one vacancy for a social worker and the other social care worker currently on maternity leave. The HSE are working to fill this social worker post.
Preliminary discussions have also commenced on the reconfiguration of the current Quin Road site to increase clinical space from nine bookable rooms from the current five. Clinics currently take place in a bookable room in the Kilrush primary care centre one day a week.
Officials in the HSE have also confirmed that ten bookable clinical spaces in the Spindle Unit of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis are coming on stream to be shared with disabilities. A group therapy space is also available. The arrangements for use of these spaces are currently with the HSE Mid-West Disabilities team and will be finalised in September.
During a recent hour-long meeting with the CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster and Clare TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND), the provision of accommodation for CAMHS in Clare was among the items discussed.
In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy Wynne outlined, “I will be looking for a full-time relocation of the West Clare CAMHS Team into the Kilrush Primary Care Centre or another suitable location that is actually based in West Clare and not the Quin Road.”
She added, “One issue that I was very keen to raise with Mr. Gloster was the provision of accommodation for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Clare. This is an issue that I have always championed in the Dáil and one that we have seen come dangerously close to boiling over in recent weeks”.
“I have engaged with many individuals, staff members, service users and their families with respect to CAMHS issues since my election. It is one of my central priorities. I want to welcome the news of this additional accommodation and I am hopeful that it will significantly improve culture and morale within CAMHS in Clare. However, I am not naïve, and I know that accommodation alone is not the issue. It is essential that these vacancies are filled as a matter of priority, and I will continue to liaise with the HSE on same. I am hopeful that the CEO will have these vacancies filled and this expansion work started before our next meeting before Christmas, where I will be focusing on getting West Clare CAMHS relocated to Kilrush on a permanent basis and the creation of a third CAMHS team to serve the Ennis area,” she concluded.
