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<\/p>\n\u201cBehind these numbers are people \u2013 some of them vulnerable \u2013 who are waiting far too long for the support they so desperately need.\u201d<\/p>\n
GP stock image(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Psychiatrists have warned of a \u201cworkforce crisis\u201d facing mental health services in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
A survey carried out by the Royal College of Psychiatrists from all five health trusts found that 29% of consultant posts in the region were either vacant or covered by locum doctors in 2025, up from 25% in 2023.<\/p>\n
The census also highlighted pressures among speciality and specialist (SAS) psychiatrists, senior doctors who work alongside consultants.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Wife dedicating herself to helping struggling local artists in memory of late Belfast musician<\/a>READ MORE: The Belfast workshop teaching women to ‘repair for themselves’<\/a><\/p>\n It found there were 79 SAS psychiatrist posts across Northern Ireland in March 2025, with 52 filled by permanent doctors.<\/p>\n The remaining posts were either vacant or filled by temporary staff, meaning 34% of SAS roles were not permanently staffed, up from around 29% in 2023.<\/p>\n The college said the staffing pressures \u201ccome at a time when demand for mental health care is increasing\u201d.<\/p>\n It also warned that Northern Ireland receives less funding per person for mental health services than other parts of the UK.<\/p>\n Dr Julie Anderson, chairwoman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland, said: \u201cThese figures show the true scale of the workforce pressures facing mental health services in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also highlight how increasingly difficult it is for mental health services to provide consistent, high-quality care for our patients, especially at a time when we\u2019re being asked to do more and more with less, as a result of various initiatives.<\/p>\n \u201cBehind these numbers are people \u2013 some of them vulnerable \u2013 who are waiting far too long for the support they so desperately need.\u201d<\/p>\n She said early intervention \u201cimproves outcomes for individuals and can reduce future pressure on health services\u201d.<\/p>\n Dr Anderson added: \u201cNorthern Ireland has historically faced years of chronic underfunding and despite having a greater mental health need, we continue to receive less funding than other parts of the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, we still don\u2019t have comprehensive regional data on mental health waiting lists, meaning the true scale of unmet need remains very unclear.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear things need to change \u2013 everyone should be working together to secure solutions to this continuing workforce crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n The census was conducted by the Training and Workforce Unit of the Royal College of Psychiatrists between May and October 2025. All five health trusts participated in the survey.<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBehind these numbers are people \u2013 some of them vulnerable \u2013 who are waiting far too long for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":["post-552522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}