NUMBERS of young people in Clare awaiting mental health appointments has risen by 34% in three years with some youths on the waiting list for up to two years.
At the end of 2021, a total of 82 people from the county were waiting on appointments with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Not alone is the amount of persons on the list growing but so too is the timeframe for which they anticipate an appointment, last year ten different individuals were left waiting between one to two years for an appointment with CAMHS.
This compares with 74 at the end of 2020 and 61 for 2019. Annual figures for 2022 are not yet available, the HSE stated.
For 2019, the amount of persons waiting up to three months for an appointment was 43 compared with 14 (3-6 months), 3 (6-9 months) and 1 (9-12 months).
Numbers rose in 2020, the 0-3 month period included 31 persons with 10 (3-6 months), 7 (6-9 months), 8 (9-12 months), 4 (15-18 months) while a total of 14 people were waiting over a year for an appointment.
Last year, 33 individuals were on the waiting list for between 0-3 months, 19 (3-6 months), 14 (6-9 months), 6 (9-12 months), 2 (15-18 months), 5 (18-21 months) and 3 (21-24 months).
A breakdown on the age cohort from Clare and the amount of time they have been waiting for an appointment was requested by Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) at Tuesday’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum.
Chief Officer with Mid-West Community Healthcare, Maria Bridgeman in response said the information was not collected in age format.
CAMHS is a service that provides assessment and treatment for young people and their families who are experiencing mental health difficulties. While a broad range of services support the mental health of children and adolescents, the term ‘CAMHS’ is usually applied very specifically to services that provide specialist mental health treatment and care to young people up to 18 years of age through a multidisciplinary team.
