The forthcoming general election is an opportunity to highlight the failings of our psychiatric services, such as bed and staff shortages and waiting lists, says Paul Gilligan

Specialist services are needed for children and teenagers with autism. It should encompass other conditions that come with it, writes Victoria White

More than 200 children have been waiting at least a year for an appointment with the mental health service.

The St Andrew's Healthcare Adolescent Service in Northhampton is at risk of closure following a damning report into its practices by the UK Care Commission that deemed the unit "unsafe".

The staffing deficit in the specialist teams that are treating children who have mental health difficulties is so great that €40m would be required to bring them to the levels recommended by the Government’s national mental health policy.

The HSE figures, obtained by Fianna Fail, show include almost 400 waiting longer than 12 months.

Mental health campaigners have said the latest critical report on the state of services should act as a wake-up call to government.

The Mental Health Commission has said the buck stops with the Government and health minister after its latest annual report said continuing failings in the mental health system indicate “a lack of interest and motivation” from those in authority.

A lack of sensitivity and use of confusing clinical language are among the challenges identified by young people using mental health services, according to a new report from the Ombudsman for Children.

The HSE has defended its efforts to recruit staff in mental health care following criticisms that it was too accepting of chronic vacancies and shortages in the sector.

Health bosses have been accused of “abusing” children with mental health issues by neglecting their needs.

The families of some children accessing a HSE adolescent addiction service allegedly faced eviction as landlords were using the “excuse” of child antisocial behaviour so as to vacate the property.

Mark Smyth is a senior clinical psychologist at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

A 14-year-old boy with severe autism boy has been housed by the HSE in an unused block of an adult psychiatric hospital for more than a week while efforts are made to find a suitable placement.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, says it has been in contact with management at a secure mental health facility in Britain, which currently has three Irish children staying there, after a Channel 4 documentary raised serious concerns about the centre.

A number of mental health facilities have failed aspects of recent inspections because of inadequate premises, the use of untrained staff in restraining patients and the admission of children to adult wards.

The number of senior managers working for the Child and Family Agency outnumbers its counselling and psychology staff by almost four to one.

A therapy service that claims huge success with troubled teens is in danger of closure because it is almost entirely reliant on charity despite getting most of its referrals from State agencies.

The Government has restored its promised €35m annual mental health budget for 2015 after slashing €15m off it last year.

Chronic under-staffing of psychology services in Co Roscommon left 180 children waiting one to two years to be seen and prevented psychologists from assessing parents ability to care for their children.

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SIXTY-SEVEN children have been admitted to adult psychiatric wards in the first half of this year, the HSE has revealed.

MENTAL health services will be “impossible to maintain” if the HSE’s own analysis of staffing levels is borne out and a further 1,000 nurses leave their jobs this year, documents have revealed.

TWO hundred young people were admitted to adult psychiatric units last year, seven of which were involuntary admissions, in a practice branded “inappropriate and unhelpful” by health professionals.

The NSPCC called today for proper government funded resources to tackle mental health problems among the young after it was revealed children as young as eight contacted ChildLine in the North last year talking about suicide.