A VPA member has taken up the issue of the critical work done by our psychologist members in the public sector, emailing that:

I would like to bring to your attention that clinical psychologists in CAMHS are on a crisis roster on a regular basis to assess children and adolescents who present with serious risk at the point of referral to Intake. The Intake Dept. for CAMHS is a phone-in service separate from the Emergency Dept.  If Intake decides a child is at risk, a crisis appointment is offered within 24 hours, usually much sooner.

This crisis assessment is done by clinical psychologists not by psychiatrists who are on the hospital payroll at $120-00 an hour and have a 4 day working week for which they get paid 5 days.

We have pointed out to DHS and VHIA the significant savings that accrue through the substitution of senior scientists for pathologists. Substitution of clinical psychologists for psychiatrists is another example of such savings.