Government ‘failing children’ on mental health

A CORK TD has criticised the Government for ‘failing’ children and young people following a review of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs).

The HSE has apologised to people who had a bad experience with the service after a damning review found Camhs to be “a failing system that needs a radical overhaul”.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the independent review by Dr Susan Finnerty, which covers 2022 and 2023, is another “damning” indictment of the Government failing young people.

“It is a national scandal that the State cannot currently provide an assurance to parents or guardians that their children have access to a safe, effective, and evidence-based service,” he said.

“Government failure to protect vulnerable young people is not new news.

“Camhs waiting lists have more than doubled since this Government was formed. It is something that concerned parents have been highlighting for a long time now. Waiting lists for Camhs have increased by 112% since 2020, with 4,490 young people waiting on first-time Camhs appointments, and 752 waiting for longer than 12 months.

“These failures mean that early intervention is passing our young people by.

“That is unacceptable. The Government must now take control of this situation and deliver the resources and the safe and effective services that our children and young people need.”

Mr Ó Laoghaire called for the acceptance and implementation of the 49 recommendations from the report.

“The latest report has 49 recommendations that the ministers for health and mental health must accept and implement to reform Camhs and improve service delivery.

“These aim to improve overall governance where the report highlighted that there is no standardised service and no national director.

“The report also highlighted insufficient budgeting for Camhs.

“It is staggering that there is no ringfenced funding for services, while care teams are unsustainably under-resourced.

“The vast majority of teams have staffing levels below 50% of what is required, and only one CHO said that they had appropriate staffing levels.

“There is also a cliff-edge in our mental health services for young people at 18.

“There is inconsistent continuity of care, and many young people fall out of services or never access them.”