3,100 children on psychiatric waiting lists

MORE than 3,100 children and teenagers are waiting up to a year to be assessed for psychiatric treatment across the country, latest figures from the health services show.

The waiting lists are worst in the East and the Midlands where 1,477 are awaiting appointments with psychiatric teams.

About 600 children are awaiting access to services in the South and about the same number are on waiting lists in the West.

According to the Irish College of Psychiatrists, more than 200,000 Irish children have a mental or behavioural problem at any one time and half of these will have a mild disorder. Some 20,000 are likely to have a disabling disorder.

Fine Gael has strongly criticised the Government’s investment in child and adolescent services, saying that the lack of access to treatment is causing “undue pain” to parents who are already under pressure.

The party’s equality spokesman David Stanton also pointed out that there were still only 20 emergency beds across the whole country for children and teenagers with chronic psychiatric needs.

The beds are in Cork and Galway. Expert reports have estimated that these figures need to be increased 10-fold to 236 beds if current needs are to be met.

There has also been sharp criticism of the failure by the health services to provide more adequately for teenagers, aged 16 and 17, who are officially too old for adolescent services but are seen as too young to experience an adult psychiatric ward.

“This age group is being placed into an adult environment or else with children. It’s clear that neither environment is suitable,” said Mr Stanton.

In addition to the 236 in-patient beds required, the Irish College of Psychiatrists estimates that the number of psychiatrists must be increased from 62 to 150 if they are to effectively respond to children’s needs.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the HSE said they are completing a review of child and adolescent psychiatry to identify and address the gaps in the service.

“The HSE accepts that in-service provision is inadequate and they are looking at increasing capacity in line with the recommendations in the 2006 Expert Group on Mental Health A Vision For Change,” he said.