Sir, – The Mental Health Commission’s report examining the operation of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Teams is confirmation that the concerns highlighted by Dr Seán Maskey in his 2022 report into the failure in South Kerry was not limited to one service.
While the term “postcode lottery” is unsettling for all who work within community mental health teams, the reality is that until the recommendations of the Maskey report are implemented, then the arbitrary nature of service provision will remain endemic within services.
A much-repeated recommendation since 2006, with the publication of the mental health policy A Vision for Change, was the appointment of a team co-ordinator for all community mental health teams for both adults and children.
Having being the chair of a national mental health team co-ordinator implementation group in 2010, the failure to implement the recommendations and appoint team coordinators is one of the most frustrating reality for those I work with, who are committed to interdisciplinary working and sharing the burden that consultant psychiatrists carry as clinical leaders.
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No doubt any effective manager observing community mental health services will wonder how large multidisciplinary teams can be properly managed without a team manager responsible for the day to day management of each team.– Yours, etc,
FRANK BROWNE,
(Senior mental health
social worker),
Dublin 16.