Parents 'tearing their hair out' trying to find answers for severely ill children
Dr Lorcan Martin, president of the College of Psychiatrists, said children waiting to access mental health services include those with psychosis, ADHD, early onset bipolar, and eating disorders.
Child mental health services are “fragmented” and “brittle” leaving parents tearing their hair out trying to find answers for severely ill children, psychiatrists have claimed.
Dr Sarah O’Dwyer spoke at the Irish Medical Organisation’s AGM during a discussion on gaps in care for patients with severe and enduring mental illness.
These included gaps in the child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs).
“The service is fragmented, it’s very brittle. I think there are many people who work in that area who are trying their best, they’re very compassionate, they’re dedicated, but they’re simply not resourced,” she said.
Reports such as the Maskey findings on the South Kerry Camhs are the result of “years and years of poor funding”, she added.
Children with moderate illnesses are waiting too long, stressed Dr O’Dwyer who works at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.
“They were allowed to become profoundly ill,” she said.
Dr Lorcan Martin, president of the College of Psychiatrists, also spoke.
He highlighted the seriousness of the problem, saying children waiting include those with psychosis, ADHD, early onset bipolar, and eating disorders.
“Parents are literally tearing their hair out, saying ‘I can’t go private, there’s no appointments privately and the public system is a two-year waiting list’,” he said.
However due to a lack of help for less severely ill children, everyone is steered towards Camhs.
He called for analysis of waiting lists, saying he estimates “the vast majority” of those waiting do not need specialist psychiatry help.
Dr Martin echoed the funding concerns, saying: “We reckon we should have about 100 community teams in Camhs and we’ve got about 75.
“Of the existing community teams, only about 50% of them actually have a whole team.”
In a separate session during the AGM, a GP questioned HSE CEO Bernard Gloster about Camhs.
“We’ve been experiencing real difficulties in accessing (Camhs),” Dr Amy Morgan, a GP in north Dublin, said, adding other GPs at the conference shared similar frustrations with her.
Over the last 10 years, she has seen an increase in young patients with symptoms of serious conditions who need assessment.
They are vulnerable and in some cases living in homes where adults have mental health diagnosis as well, she added.
“Patients are telling us it’s not working,” she said.
“It’s very upsetting to be sitting in front of a family and they themselves are already expressing a lack of confidence in the services, or an expectation they know their children may not be seen in a timely manner.”
In response Mr Gloster said: “I think we have to make improvements in Camhs itself, as a speciality and how it works.”
He pointed to work by the new office for child and youth mental health. He also repeated a commitment made early last year by then minister of state for mental health Mary Butler to simplify the referral process.
“I find the pathways confusing,” he said, adding “we should have one front door for children into our community services.”
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