Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
MORE THAN 50 posts in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs) remain unfilled, according to recent figures provided by the HSE which also show an increase in the demand for services and ever growing waiting lists.
The figures for March show there were 1,259 referrals of children accepted by community mental health teams.
Though 232 development posts were allocated to CAMHs from the 2012 and 2013 investment – so technically, the money should be there to hire people – the HSE said 54 of these are still vacant, claiming it is working with local teams to ensure they are filled.
It comes at a time when demand for the services provided are on the rise with a ten per cent increase in referrals accepted in March and a further 18 per cent increase in the number of new cases seen when compared to the same period last year.
Last Friday, Childline also revealed it had been contacted over 664,000 times by children seeking help in 2013 and said the number of times its services were contacted about mental health was a cause for concern.
Waiting
The waiting list for children has also grown to 2,943 – up eight per cent on March last year. The HSE said some 72 per cent of referrals were offered a first appointment and seen within three months.
A recent report from CAMHs found that children in Dublin are most likely to be seen within three months while the HSE South list had the highest number of children waiting longer than 12 months to see a therapist.
Catherine Joyce, Head of Advocacy for children’s charity Barnardos, told TheJournal.ie that her organisation has encountered CAMHs services which have “closed their waiting lists to anyone except the most urgent and serious cases”.
“This has meant services being denied to children who, in our opinion, are in dire need of mental health support and who are being put at risk by the lack of access to the services,” she said.
In one case, a child of 9 who had been expelled from school because his behaviour was increasingly putting himself and others at risk was denied a service because he did not meet the threshold for intervention and the waiting list was otherwise closed.
‘Children and families are suffering’
Joyce said the staffing levels in HSE mental health services for children and adolescents are just 44 per cent of the level recommended by the ‘A Vision for Change‘ report published by the expert group on mental health back in 2006.
The HSE figures were provided to TD Thomas Broughan who said he was concerned about the increase in waiting times for children referred to CAMHs to obtain an appointment.
He said the increased demand is “particularly worrying” in light of the HSE’s admission that only 178 of the 232 posts have been filled. “It appears that the CAMHS are under serious pressure and children and families are suffering because of long delays in accessing vital mental health services,” he said.
The HSE did not respond to a request for comment on action being taken to fill the vacant posts.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Will this affect the cannabis laws? Going there in December…
they changed the law during the summer only dutch citizens can legally buy hash in the cafe’s no more tourists
Oh yea, I’d say its for the weed yer goin. Oh yea.
That law is not currently being widely enforced, unfortunately.
Max – tourists who are visiting Amsterdam in December will still be able to smoke pot in the coffeeshops. The ban is in place in southern cities such as Maastricht and the plan is for it to be introduced nationwide in January. Whether this govt plans any change to the proposed legislation is unclear, but will become clear in the next day or so.
Thank you Neil!
It’s actually doesn’t come into effect until November after cannabis cup, a major tourist attraction.
I’m only back yesterday from amsterdam its jan 1st the weed pass comes in
When it comes in, it means Dutch *residents* can buy it, not just Dutch citizens. If you’re Irish and you live there, happy days for you. If you’re Dutch and you live in Belgium, tough.
Ur welcome Max. Who knows I might c u there
now’s the chance to legalise and smoke our way out of the recession,cafes with PlayStations,lots of burger bites and sweets,400000 jobs in tourism and service industry,enda Kenny statue on o Connell street,money to burn,criminals moving into legitimate business!!!it’s win win
I bet the new Dutch government will achieve their goals too, not like our crowd of amateurs.
They will if their citizenship continue to pay their water rates and property tax.
Banning the weed tourism, raising the drinking age , next theyll be banning prostitution and turning the netherlands into a tourist wasteland
Interesting reading comments here .the vast majority ignored the main thrust of the report which was based on their economic platform ,we are mor interested in how it will effect Drugs and Booze and we wonder why we elect duff governments.
Never thought I would hear a liberal party looking at raising the age at which you are allowed to consume alcohol.
Brian – Rutte’s party are liberal in name only. They are definitively right of centre and austerity is the agenda that defines them. Much like Cameron’s Tory party in UK.
Gavin apologies.
the sales on the streets will be booming again. they just announced you will need an identification and proof of residence. so club membership for dutch citizens only has been scrapped.
http://www.dutchnews.nl has an interesting summary of what this means. Reading between the lines it looks like local/city councils will have discretion as to how the law is enforced but the ‘Weedpass’ is dead.
have your say