Psychiatrists risk burnout because the public largely misunderstands the role of mental health services for young people, say researchers.
A study by University College Dublin (UCD) said 56 per cent of psychiatrists believed that people saw the HSE Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as a “catch-all service”. It said the public’s view often led to inappropriate referrals.
“CAMHS’s inability to meet the demands of both referrers and service users, when faced with demands outside of their remit, caused demoralisation and stress among staff,” the researchers said.
Psychiatrists said mistaken referrals overburdened the CAMHS and led to bad feeling among patients who were turned away. They said highlighting CAMHS’s actual role would ensure that resources were better used.
The medics said more people needed to recognised that CAMHS was a specialist service to treat moderate-to-severe mental illness, not a non-specialist service for young people with behavioural problems, transient emotional difficulties or disabilities.
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The UCD study said demand for mental health services outstripped availability, which led to long waits to be seen. It said that referrals to CAMHS had risen by 24 per cent in the six years to 2018.
Seventy five per cent of psychiatrists surveyed said they had experienced moderate or high work-related burnout, while 69 per cent had considered a change of job.
About 73 per cent said they were not confident in the Irish government’s commitment to the CAMHS, while 71 per cent said management by the health authorities was ineffective and uninformed.
Fiona McNicholas, the co-author of the study and a professor in psychiatry, said professionals’ stress levels would worsen if the issues were not resolved. “There is an urgent need for engagement and collaboration,” she said.
“There is an equally urgent need to work with patients, referrers and the public to ensure adequate understanding of CAMHS’s core business”.
