NURSES WITHIN THE Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) are worried about the future of its workforce, as Trinity College Dublin has cancelled its specialist MSc in children’s mental health this year in light of staffing shortages.

Trinity College has said it “very much regrets” having to suspend the “important course”, but it hasn’t been able to find specialist teaching staff to run it this year, as mental health is an area under “significant stress”. 

The HSE has said that the suspension of the course will not pose further recruitment problems for CAMHS, as there are other pathways for nurses who want to work in the service, including “shorter postgraduate skills-based training”.

However, nurses within the service have said that it is the desired qualification for a host of specialist positions, and that there are few equivalent courses on offer in Ireland.

They said that it will affect both the recruitment of specialist nurses in the future, and the retention of nurses who want to specialise in the area as they have the option of studying abroad. 

Mark Ward, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for mental health, has called on the Minister for Education and the Minister for Mental Health to work with Trinity to come up with a solution that will see this course reinstated, and attracting applicants in the future. 

He said that more must be done to plan for the future of the CAMHS workforce, in light of the figures released yesterday which show that over 4,300 children are waiting on an appointment with the service, “with huge discrepancies on how long a child has to wait based on where they live”. 

Dr Fintan Sheerin, the head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity said that due to the department’s current capacity, it “simply isn’t in a position” to run the Msc in children, adolescent and family mental health to the standard it would like in 2023/24.

 Mental health is an area under significant stress, and it has been extremely difficult to find specialist teaching staff at the level required, and particularly in this very important area.

“However we are working hard to find solutions to this and hope to be able to offer the course in the future,” Dr Sheerin told The Journal.

It is understood that four newly qualified nurses who want to work in children’s services had applied for the MSc so far this year, and 10 students graduated from it last year. 

The course was open to students from different professions who work with children, adolescents and families with mental health issues including medicine, education services, speech and language therapy, psychology, and nursing. 

It is known to be one of the most desirable qualifications for nurses applying to be Clinical Nursing Specialists (CNSs) and Advanced Nursing Practitioners (ANPs) within CAMHS. One senior nurse who works in the CAMHS eating disorder service said that the cancellation of the MSc in children, adolescent and family mental health this year is a major step backwards.

“There are posts within CAMHS that require specialist training in the area of children and adolescent mental health. This is one of the few specific level 9 courses available to nurses who want to pursue this career path, and now it’s not available.

“It is one of the most desirable qualifications for nurses in our field. It beggars belief that it is being cancelled when we are in the midst of a national CAMHS crisis.

“It could mean that we have staff joining in the future who haven’t completed a course to work in this specialised area,” they said.

The senior nurse, who completed the course themselves at the start of their career, said that they know several young nurses who had secured HSE funding through the Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit to pursue the MSc this year, who are now having to reassess their options.

“If the Government is serious about reform in CAMHS, this course is of significant importance.

“If it isn’t available long-term, it will be a failure in respect of children and adolescents with mental health struggles,” they added. 

Refund or different course

The nurses who applied to undertake the MSc in children, adolescent and family mental health this year have been offered a refund of their application fee, but they have been urged to consider transferring to the MSc Mental Health – Psychological Interventions Strand instead. 

One nurse said that this is an adult-focused course, however, rather than focusing on working with children and young people.

Mark Ward said that it is “very concerning” that the provision of this “vital and specialist course” on children’s mental health has stalled. 

“Workforce planning is vital in the recruitment of specialists and in the provision of mental health care. We are seeing mental health services in crisis right across the state and in particular in the area of child and adolescent mental health services,” he said.

Ward added that this “concerning” development comes at a time when 735 children have been waiting over a year for CAMHS services, representing a 209% increase since 2020.

He added that CHO 4, which includes Kerry, has the largest number of young people waiting on an appointment, with the figure currently at 976.

“Kerry was the subject of the Maskey report, which was a damning indictment of CAMHS. This report was published in January 2022 and the government has failed to act.

“There have been numerous reports into CAMHS recently, which have shown the inefficiencies by both government and HSE,” Ward said.

The HSE is currently recruiting for CNPs in Dublin North City and County, and in other locations, through advertisements on the careers section of its website. 

The role involves undertaking assessments of patients, developing and contributing to integrated care planning, and delivering evidence based clinical interventions.

A requirement for applicants is to hold a major academic Level 9 or higher award that is relevant to the specialist area of care, and in line with the requirements set out by specialist practice by the National Council for Nursing and Midwifery.