45 teenagers in Clare are on a waiting list for mental health appointments and assessments.
Figures accurate to the end of April detail that there are 45 young people in Clare on the waiting list for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Four of these minors have been between nine months to a year waiting for an appointment.
A total of ten teenagers have been in the CAMHS queue for six to nine months with 12 individuals on the list for three to six months and 19 waiting zero to three months for an initial assessment.
CAMHS offers assessment and treatment to children and young people with moderate to severe mental health difficulties up to their 18th birthday.
Maria Bridgeman, Chief Officer, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare explained that “most of our referrals come either directly from the family G.P. but referrals are also accepted from senior clinicians/practitioners in other disciplines/services in collaboration with the G.P.as per the CAMHS Operational Guideline. In general, all referrals of children and young people to CAMHS are reviewed by the relevant catchment team to determine if the referral is appropriate to CAMHS”.
Referrals are prioritised “according to the acuity of the presentation outlined in the referral and any other collateral information provided”. This encompasses the severity of the presenting difficulties, the associated mental health risks and the risk of harm. In the case of “a significant deterioration” in a young person’s mental state, she advised that “an urgent appointment may be sought through their GP”.
She added, “While a child may be wait listed and assigned a level of priority based on the above, subsequent referrals received, or children and young people already on the waiting list, may be deemed more urgent and so will usually be offered an appointment sooner than others on the basis of this prioritisation”.
An updated report on the amount of young people waiting on a CAMHS appointment in Clare was requested by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) at a sitting of the HSE Regional Forum. She expressed her worry that four children were waiting nine to twelve months to be seen, “I find it worrying that four children are waiting best part of a year to be seen”.
Nuala Kelly, Head of Service, Mental Health Mid-West Community Healthcare outlined that children are prioritised “according to their presenting difficulties, the severity of the condition and the risks associated with that. If someone with greater need comes in, they can go ahead of you on the waiting list”. She accepted that the wait was difficult on the youths affected.
