Mid-West Mental Health Services covers the counties of Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary and delivers a comprehensive service to a varied and often complex group of service users.
The person appointed to this post will work within Mid-West Mental Health Services.
He/she will be required to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team delivering a co-ordinated approach to client care.
The types of services provided are as follows;
· There are four approved centres in the Mid-West (i) Acute Psychiatric Unit, 5B, Limerick University Hospital (50 beds); (ii) Acute Psychiatric Unit, Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Clare (39 beds); (iii) Tearmann Ward, St. Camillus Hospital (21 beds – Psychiatry of Older Persons) and (iv) Cappahard Lodge, Ennis (34 beds – Psychiatry of Older Persons/Rehab).
· Community Mental Health Teams – General Adult Mental Health Teams operate within the Mid-West Community Healthcare region providing a range of services to people with mental health issues.
Allied Health Professionals are a core part of the Community Mental Health Teams.
· Psychiatry of Older Persons - There are three Old Age Psychiatry teams across the Mid-West.
· Rehabilitation Psychiatry – There are two rehabilitation teams providing care for those with enduring mental illness in the Midwest.
· Liaison – There is one such team in the Mid-West.
· CAMHS – There are seven Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Teams across the Mid-West.
· CAMHS HUB
· CAMHS MHID
· Perinatal Mental Health Service – There is one such team in the Mid-West.
· ADHD Adult Mental Health Service – There is one such team in the Mid-West.
It is well recognised that, in order to become healthy individuals, children need safety and security within their primary relationships, opportunities to play and learn, and the positive self-esteem that comes from knowing they are valued and cherished by families and friends (A Vision for Change, 2006).
According to the document 'A National Model of Care for Paediatric Healthcare Services in Ireland', the response to children's mental health needs requires consideration of a variety of services at different levels.
These range from early intervention and health promotion programmes to primary and community care services and specialist mental health services for the treatment of more serious mental illness.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are provided in a wide range of hospital and community-based locations.
Hospital services include Emergency Department, Acute Admission, In patient Units, Intensive Treatment units.
Community based Mental Health Services include: Home Care Teams, Assertive Outreach, Early Intervention Services, Day Hospital Services and Intellectual Disability services.
The CHO3 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) is currently delivered by seven community multi-disciplinary teams across Limerick, Clare & North Tipperary.
As per the recommendations in 'A Vision for Change' (A VfC, HSE, 2006) the population of CHO3 (< 400,000) recommends the provision of < eight, thirteen-member community based CAMHS multi-disciplinary teams (MDT), one Paediatric Liaison CAMHS team and one CAMHS-Mental Health Intellectual Disability (CAMHS-MHID) Team.
Multi-disciplinary community-based CAMHS teams in this CHO area provide assessment and treatment for children presenting with moderate and severe mental health issues.
Together with assessment, a range of therapies and interventions are provided including play therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, family therapy, parenting groups, psychopharmacology, behavioural interventions, individual psychotherapy, group work and other structured therapeutic interventions.
Other Clinical Nurse Specialist (Mental Health) CAMHS vacancies, both current and arising through the life of the panel to be created from this campaign, will be assigned to other CAMHS MDTs.
The person appointed will work within the services as part of multi-disciplinary teams delivering a co-ordinated approach to client care.