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THE ENTIRE AMOUNT of last year’s development funding for eating disorder services was used to cover other areas of mental health provision, according to the HSE.
In a statement to Noteworthy, a HSE spokesperson said that “nationally planned developments for eating disorder services in 2020 had to be temporarily paused”. They added:
“In 2020 this development funding was used to cover unfunded costs in mental health services including some costs associated with service provision for those with eating disorders.”
The HSE said that no additional development funding was provided for eating disorders last year but “the balance of €3.94 million of previous funding remained in place”.
Just over 3% of funding spent in three years
This funding was originally allocated to the development of new eating disorder services, yet for the last three years all or almost all of the money was diverted to other services.
In 2018, €1.5m was allocated for the development of eating disorder services across Ireland. However, according to the HSE, just €137,000 was spent.
In 2019, a further €1.6m was allocated to the development of eating disorder services. Yet a HSE parliamentary question from November 2019 stated that it was being held by the Department of Health and would not become available until January 2020. It continued:
Therefore there have been no posts progressed in relation [to] 2019 funds.
That equates to €137,000 (3.4%) of just over €4 million in development funding allocated to eating disorders being spent since 2018. This funding is part of the implementation of the national clinical programme for eating disorders, launched in January 2018.
In an opinion piece for Noteworthy last year, Fiona Coyle, chief executive of the Mental Health Reform called for the Government to stop diverting funding allocated to eating disorder to other areas.
Coyle explained that “year after year, mental health funding announced on Budget Day has not taken into account some basic principles that are taken for granted in other areas of the health service” that “the cost of maintaining existing services in mental health rises each year”.
This is due to staff pay scales and other factors, according to Coyle. This shortfall of money usually comes from development funding which is “supposed to be used to develop new mental health services”.
Lack of progress
In relation to the use of 2020 funding on other services, the HSE said that “this was done in consultation with the Department of Health”. The spokesperson continued:
“It is important to note that this funding has not been diverted. It remains fully available for recruitment of eating disorder posts in 2021.”
Jacinta Hastings, chief executive of Bodywhys, the eating disorders association of Ireland, told Noteworthy:
We need to focus on the positive that the funding is fully available in 2021 and need to see progress during the year on this.
A HSE mental health service report from last July found that no eating disorder specialist team “was serving its full population” at the end of that year.
A key element of the national programme is to treat people with eating disorders early before they become sick enough for admission to hospital. To do this, hubs and mini-hubs of specialist teams were to be set up across the country within five years.
Three years into the programme, only three of the 16 promised hubs are operational – one adult hub in Dublin as well as hubs in both Dublin and Cork for children and adolescents.
Hastings is calling for “year-on-year protected funding to see all 16 teams in place within the quickest time frame possible”.
If you need to speak to someone, contact:
SILENT TREATMENT Investigation
Do you want to know if people with eating disorders are being failed by the public health system?
The Noteworthy team want to do an in-depth investigation into the progress of the national clinical programme for eating disorders and what is causing delays in its implementation.
Here’s how to help support this proposed project>
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Seems the only people we can trust in this country anymore to hold important jobs are foreigners. We should also hire one for the je HSE top job…..
@Humphrey Harold Haddington: I wouldn’t call it trust, but rather no Irish baggage, political or otherwise.
@Humphrey Harold Haddington: I would say this is more of a smoke screen. Strange there wasn’t one person in this entire country capable of the job. Or do some here think we Irish are just completely dishonest and untrustworthy.?
Joe Schmidt worked out pretty well.
Nothing wrong with another Kiwi running things here!
The only way to restoring trust is to employ an outsider ..perhaps we could get a few TD’S from abroad ALSO
Could we get a couple of hundred to run for Dail Eireann!!
Delighted to see its gone to a foreigner and not one of the lads mates! The fact it went to a Kiki is even better, recently when some bottom feeders went on a crime and anti social behaviour spree over there, the Mayor of Auckland called them The Mayor of described them as “a**holes” and “trash” Imagine what they would be called here, victims, “failed by society” etc, Joe Duffy and Miriam O’Callaghan would be fighting over who could interview them first, so they could regale us tax paying morons, with tales of the the awfully harsh (LOL) worldclass Irish welfare state here. Irish politicians make me sick, nobody responsible for everything, everyone is a victim etc! Pathetic! https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ahole-brit-tourists-kicked-out-13857689
@Shane Murphy: I was going to say I’m surprised that you’re happy it’s going to a foreigner given your right wing views elsewhere but then quickly realised that you’re using this article as an excuse to rant about other stuff that gets underneath your pr1ckly skin.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: That other stuff gets under a lot of people’s skin.
@Leadóg: indeed it does but the lad’s entire focus is irrelevant to the topic. Just that it happened in nz. Lord of the rings was filmed there but I’m not gona go waffling on about it as its irrelevant.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: are you aware of what bertie and co’s mate ,sorry regulator was responsible for during the boom ? New Zealand is far enough away , that even sleveemism probably hadn’t reached there. Hopefully varadkar does us all a favor and takes a long hike and casts himself into the fires of mount doom!
@Shane Murphy: you’re going off on a tangent again but yes, I’m well aware. Patrick Nevin sat on his hole and did sweet fa and then rode off into the sunset while we pay his pension.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: we agree on this !
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: Is there no end to your homophilic bile?
@Josh Hanners: I actually had to go and Google homophilic. Turns out it’s a dated term for homosexual but lost its relevance after the 60s civil rights movements. You stuck in dark ages too buddy?
Sad day when we have to look to foreign countries to find an honest man!
@Josh Hanners: the sad day was years ago when we realized our lot couldn’t organize mass in the Vatican
@Mushy Peas: let alone an economy and state
@Josh Hanners: we need fine, honest, God fearing folk like yourself to run things Josh, mo chara.
Im delighted…
That none of civil service (RWatt etc) and Sharon….as they refused to answer questions posed by our elected officials..
Im not a FG head but well done Paschal.
If he shelves banker pay report ill vote FG
When debt is seen as a commodity then people will rise up but it will take a disaster to make that happen. Those in the financial trade learn nothing about consequences, only about going after short term profits at any cost. That is why crashes will keep on happening as well as how the ECB treats Central banks in Europe because the EURO isn’t their currency but is the ECB’s currency instead, no one has coped onto that yet?
have your say