HSE Begins Recruitment for New Child and Youth Mental Health Lead

Minister for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler welcomed the opening of the recruitment process for the post of Child and Youth Mental Health Lead in the HSE. This key new role will provide leadership, operational oversight, and delegated management of all service delivery across child and youth mental health services across the country.

They will also be responsible for managing and coordinating service planning activities, partnership and capacity building, the development of service plans, and setting of service standards right across child and youth mental health services in Ireland.

The post holder will report to the HSE National Director for Community Operations and will be supported by a dedicated team for which funding has been provided.

This role, and the wider Child and Youth Mental Health office, will result in improved links with the National Clinical Advisor Group Lead Mental Health, which in turn will support the development of current and future youth mental health-related National Clinical Programmes.

Minister Butler stated, “I am really pleased to see that the HSE has now advertised for this vital new role. The progression of this role has been a key priority for me over the past year, and it will play a crucial part in ensuring that integrated mental health services for young people have a more centralised and evidence-based focus within the HSE.\”

“We will see the completed reviews and audits arising from the Maskey Report, along with the Final Report of the Mental Health Commission on CAMHS later this year, which together will give us real time data never available before to support this new post. Importantly, there will be new support staff to underpin this welcome initiative. I will ensure that the HSE also progresses as quickly as possible the new post of National Clinical Lead for Youth Mental Health as announced in the Dáil over the last week.”

Yvonne O’ Neill, National Director of Community Operations, HSE said, “this is a really welcome dedicated resource to support the ongoing improvement work in child and youth mental health services. This is also a significant step in implementing the Sharing the Vision policy.”