Deputy Mark Ward has accused the government of failing in children’s mental health. The numbers of young people waiting for appointments with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has risen this year to over 4000, with unacceptable increases in those waiting for longer than a year. Deputy Ward has called for a solution focused approach.
Teachta Ward said “Figures received by my party colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, reveal that there is a substantial increase in young people waiting for mental health services in 2022. “Over 4,000 children are waiting on appointments for CAMHS, this is an increase of 32% on figures we received for 2021. “Early intervention is critical to reaching an improved outcome. More and more of our young people are not receiving this timely care and there are increases in the amount of young people presenting to CAHMS for treatment and the amount of time they are waiting on an appointment.
“In my own area of CHO 7 there are currently 22 young people waiting over 12 months. “This is an increase of more than 157% since 2021 This is totally unacceptable. “We need to move away from the postcode lottery for services. Treatment should be based on need, not on where you live. “For example, there are 13 children waiting over a year for an appointment in CHO 2 which covers Galway, Roscommon and Mayo whilst there are 215 children waiting over a year in CHO 4 which covers parts of Cork and Kerry.
“We are at crisis point now for young people’s mental health. The government is failing to address this very serious situation. “These services are nothing without their staff but a failure by government to recruit and retain staff is leading to this increase in waiting lists.
