'Young people have been let down': Former Camhs user echoes report's findings

Commission board member Tammy Donaghy said: 'This report not only has recommendations in it, but it also has in writing that young people have been let down by services. It validates our lived experiences.' Picture: Leah Farrell/Photocall Ireland

A report critical of the supports offered to children’s mental health “validates our lived experiences”, a young woman who previously accessed these services said yesterday. 

Tammy Donaghy was speaking during the launch of a report into the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) by the Mental Health Commission.

“I really welcome this report,” she said. “

This report not only has recommendations in it, but it also has in writing that young people have been let down by services. It validates our lived experiences.

She said her childhood was affected by poverty and her parents struggled with addiction issues, leading to her father dying by suicide when she was just 11.

She became “very unwell” after this, and said: “My teenage years were chaos and I really really struggled.” Her GP prescribed medication and referred her to Camhs.

“I was put on that waiting list when I was 16 years old, I received no care other than being sitting on that waiting list. I was sat on that list from the age of 16 and it went through until I was 18,” she said.

“Then I was put onto a list for adult mental health services.” 

She praised her school and local youth services which linked her with psychotherapy, saying: “I’m still here, but it is because of that wraparound approach I had from services.” Now a youth worker, she added: 

Young people do not have many positive things to say about accessing mental health services. It can be retraumatizing and it can really make them feel not listened to, not heard and not valued. 

Mental Health Reform, an umbrella group for mental health NGOs, also welcomed the report for highlighting problems.

CEO Fiona Coyle said children’s safety is compromised due to the long waiting lists and lack of resources. She warned of “significant distress and frustration” for families.

“It is alarming that some Camhs teams are neglecting to monitor children using antipsychotic medication,” she said.

“The lack of follow-up care is also of serious concern. We must restore trust in the mental health system and ensure that families and children receive the high standard of care they deserve.” 

The Mental Health Commission’s inspector Dr Susan Finnerty called on the services to move on from a landmark 2006 report which set out targets, saying treatment in other countries has evolved past this.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association echoed Dr Finnerty’s concerns around the pace of change, and said: 

There are many strands that have to come together, involving all pillars of the health system — GPs, Consultants, Allied Health Professionals — to ensure these highly vulnerable patients are cared for as required.

The report makes 49 recommendations, including enforcing standards across all 75 Camhs teams so children receive the same care everywhere. 

Inspectors identified “unacceptable variability” between HSE regions and even internally within some regions. They noted in some cases GPs faced with long waits and frustrating attempts to have a child referred instead send the child to the local hospital emergency department.

Families only have access to “piecemeal emergency provision” over weekends and outside of core working hours, they warned.

If you have been affected by these issues, contact Jigsaw.ie