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LAST UPDATE | 13 Jun 2024
SOME YOUNG PEOPLE are not seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) until they are self-harming or have attempted suicide, according to a new report.
Many children also struggle to access services because they are autistic, according to the report carried out by the advocacy group Families for Reform of CAMHS.
In total, 736 people across Ireland responded to the survey in April. The report was officially launched at the Ombudsman for Children’s Office in Dublin this afternoon.
Nine in 10 parents (92%) who took part in the survey said their child’s mental health deteriorated while they were waiting to be seen by CAMHS.
One parent said their son was not seen by CAMHS “until he actually self-harmed and attempted suicide”.
Another parent said CAMHS only saw their daughter after she ended up in the emergency department, stating: “In the end they took her case because we ended up in A&E in a complete crisis.”
A number of recent reports have highlighted that CAMHS are under-staffed, under-regulated and under-funded.
Seven in 10 parents (70%) who took part in the survey said the fact their child was autistic negatively impacted their access to CAMHS and/or the mental health supports offered to them.
Four in 10 parents (40%) surveyed said their autistic child ended up in the emergency department while on the waiting list for CAMHS (versus 34% of non-autistic children).
The report notes:
The door to CAMHS only opens when a child’s health reaches a critical/emergency point.
A separate report published by the Oireachtas Children’s Committee in May found that young people had been given “inadequate or inappropriate supports” by CAMHS “simply on the basis of being autistic”.
Children with a ‘dual diagnosis’ – when they have a mental health difficulty alongside autism, an intellectual disability, or both – often struggle to access services.
Autistic children are often excluded from CAMHS and instead referred back to their local children’s disability network team (CDNT) – despite the fact they may have ill mental health, the report noted last month.
Today’s report came to the same conclusion, with one parent saying their local CAMHS team told them their child needed to be seen by CDNT services, while CDNT told them to go back to CAMHS.
The parent recalled:
CAMHS said, ‘Autism, try CDNT’. CDNT would reply with ‘ADHD, try CAMHS’. This went on for years until he was terrified he’d finally kill himself.
Another parent said: “[We were] passed back and forth between services – too autistic for one and too anxious for the other.”
Seven in 10 parents (69%) said that when their child was eventually seen by CAMHS, they were discharged before they were “ready”.
One parent said her daughter was discharged because she was suspected to be have Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), despite the fact she was depressed and had suicidal ideation.
Just over half of parents (54%) felt that their child’s autism was “used to try and discharge the child”.
“Every issue was blamed on ASD diagnosis and [at] each appointment they tried to discharge us,” one parent said.
Today’s report also found that most parents (69% of respondents) got a private diagnosis for their child in a bid to get them seen by CAMHS sooner.
However, many families cannot afford to do this. Some parents said they had to take unpaid leave or quit their job to care for their child.
The report states that cost is a “huge” barrier for many families, leaving their child at a “huge disadvantage”.
A quarter of the 700-plus children whose parents were surveyed were on the waiting list for support for over a year. pic.twitter.com/22std5XCyC
— Órla Ryan (@orlaryan) June 13, 2024
Other parents said they could not find a private child psychiatrist who was taking on new clients, or had their child turned away from private practitioners as their needs were deemed “too complex” especially if the child had an intellectual disability.
“Children were and are left in a vulnerable position with nowhere to turn,” the report notes.
When asked by The Journal for comment on today’s report, a spokesperson for the HSE said: “We are sorry to those young people and families who have had a poor experience in trying to access services.”
In order to reform CAMHS and youth mental health services in general, the HSE has developed a three-year action plan.
The spokesperson said this plan is “informed by recommendations of the Mental Health Commission review of CAMHS, audit of prescribing practice, adherence to operational guidance and service experiences”.
The plan is currently “undergoing a period of consultation with key stakeholders”, they added.
The overarching goal is to redesign and deliver services which are safe, effective, easy to access and offer appropriate support at all levels of need.
In terms of the difficulties faced by some young people being referred from one service to another, the spokesperson confirmed that the current system is due to be overhauled.
“One of the key priorities for the Child and Youth Mental Health Office is the development of a single point of access for all child and youth mental health referrals in partnership with disabilities, primary care, and voluntary and statutory agencies.”
Funding for this service was approved in Budget 2024 and test sites have been identified in Community Healthcare Dublin North City and County and Community Healthcare West CAMHS.
The purpose of the single point of access is that all referrals go to one centralised triage committee and an appropriate service or intervention is identified.
“Therefore children and young people do not have to join multiple waiting lists and services work together to provide a suite of suitable mental health assessments and interventions at the most appropriate level,” the spokesperson noted.
Mental Health Reform, Ireland’s leading national coalition for mental health, said it is “extremely” concerned by some of the findings in today’s report.
CEO Fiona Coyle said the report “provides further evidence of the systemic failures in our mental health system”.
“Every child should have access to responsive and effective mental health services.
Unfortunately, many children are being denied timely and appropriate care due to significant issues within CAMHS.
Coyle noted that the Mental Health Commission’s independent review of CAMHS last year “highlighted deficiencies in the services including long delays for treatment, a lack of standardised care, and serious staffing shortages”.
She welcomed the subsequent establishment of the HSE National Youth Mental Health Office, but added that “underfunding continues to be a significant barrier”.
“It is extremely concerning that families had to seek private support while their children were on the waiting list for CAMHS.
Parents should not have to bear the financial burden of private care to compensate for inefficiencies in the public system.
“The lack of early intervention in the services is also deeply troubling.”
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Privatisation of waste was wrong another rush to monetise what should be a state controlled job
Here, some “rural” households don’t even get a bin collection service, as a result of private company’s taking over the job. Sort that out! Try carting black bags 20 mins away to the amenities centre in the boot of your car,with the kids and then hefting them (bags not kids) over a railing more than half the height of yourself. Not for the faint hearted! Where is out public services!
@Marie B: within a year of privatisation we went from 4 bins (waste, recycling, compost,glass) with three operators to choose from to 1 operator and just waste,recycling bins now.
I pay a flat rate of just over €80 every 3 months.. I get charged extra for exceeding my weight allowance on recycling.. I went to my recycling plant 20 min away with cardboard, plastic , tetra and payed €2 entry.. actually felt good doing a small bit for the environment.. my recycling bin is now 1/2 full every two weeks.. I asked for a reduction in charges and the advisor actually laughed down the phone at me.. no incentive to do the right thing at all.
@Kenny Malone: So cancel your contract with the bin suppliers and continue to bring your rubbish to the recycling plant. Money is better off in your pocket than there’s
Waste avoidance would also be a good starting point. Almost none of grocery packing is recyclebal.
@smatrix mantra: Don’t know what you are buying but most of the packaging on the stuff I buy is recyclable. Boxes, bottles, tins, plastic wrap, meat trays, all can be recycled as long as they are clean and dry.
handing bin collection over to private companies like we did with other utilities has been a real treat for Ireland. Overpriced, very little decent services in return. And to think some clowns actually wanted the same thing to happen to the water in this country
You think the so called greens would have sorted this but they have been too busy destroying the city and imposing taxes
Those figures are set to get considerably worse.
Panda (Now a subsidiary of a massive Canadian vulture fund) have a monopoly on collections in many areas and have now introduced a charge on compost lifts, increased the charge on recycling lifts, and added a per kg charge on top for recycling. End result – No incentive to segregate anymore. Everything just goes in general waste now, have contacted them to collect the Green and Brown bins as I don’t need them anymore.
Almost zero recycling bins in our capital city, let alone across towns and villages. Communal bottle banks and clothes banks are few and far between. You have to pay (!) to use the few small recycling centres there are.
Household waste…speaking for Dublin, even if they gave us more bin types (most countries go with plastic, paper, compost and other) theybsit on the street. Why the city can’t install underground communal bins is a mystery, instead we waste money on ‘strong’ plastic sacks to stick on the pavement for the seagulls and foxes to get into each week.
Meanwhile bin collection fees are high and no discount if you have less waste.
It’s not hard…we need to look at other countries in Europe and how they recycle, learn some lessons and then implement them.
I always segregate my waste, yet I read recently that only 20% of plastic in domestic bins, is fit to be recycled. Is it any wonder people aren’t bothered about which bin their waste goes into
If plastic was banned to begin with there would be no issue. Glass bottles, paper bags, keep cups. Cardboard packaging only. Unwrapped fruit and veg. Oh and using local fruit markets and butchers if that’s your thing. And stop eating processed and froxmzen foods. Some containers are nearly impossible to clean due to design oversight.
@Monty Carlow: To be honest, I sometimes rinse salad trays and stick them in the top shelf of the dishwasher. It melts them flat & gets them clean :-)
@Monty Carlow: Glass? I would buy more products in Glass containers if it was easier to recycle them. It is one the most recyclable products going and yet we are not allowed put it in our recycle bins!
It wasnt just Fingal charged €3.80 per Compost bin lift, it was the whole country? I’m in Wexford and i get charged it now too by Panda…Got emailed about it 3months ago.
We use the brown bin all the time but lately , especially during the really hot spell we had a dreadful problem with maggots in the bin. We are very careful with what we put in the bin and with sealing items which provoke these horrible things. We wash out the bin every time it is emptied and use a bin liner (Eco) but leaving collection of this bin for two weeks at a time is ridiculous, it needs to be emptied weekly. The charges have escalated and on a fixed income these charges are substantial, they should be tax deductible to encourage compliance but better yet the service should fall under the cover of our property taxes (home tax).
@Eileen Kelly: In other countries, they have a regular service to clean the bins as well. I don’t see why they can’t offer that here, monthly maybe, steam them out? Often those flimsy overpriced bags tear while they’re being emptied. I’m not sure what facilities apartments have for cleaning bins either.
Used to fastidiously separate my waste, until the brown bin charge came in. Why pay for 3 bins when I can pay for 2.
@Sean Wilde:
Agreed, it’s now about the cheapest option, not necessarily doing the right thing.
Charging for recycling and/or organic waste should be illegal. It is counterproductive.
As long as plastic is produced it will be a problem.
I am just confused over what can and can’t go in the bins especially when it comes to plastics.
@S Os: Check your collector’s website (we are with Wiser), they will have all the info you need.
I live on the Copper Coast. Most people around me just burn their rubbish.
I think Ireland is already one of the best countries in Europe for recycling but there’s still no thanks for it.
Price increases coming on cans and plastic btls to pay for recycling vending machines in February. Return and u get coupons for cash to get increases back.
Must have been horrible to go through it all to find out!
It had been so mismanaged through privatisation that I one gives a damn anymore.
If the rubbish could have been put into Eamon one end it could have come out the other green,or even the other way round cos what comes out of his mouth is similar to it why not try clone him and we all have 3 eamons as bins recycling, waste and garden then it can be evenly spread throughout green areas to enhance growth
Ye, there collection companies have a lot to answer for so…We pay them for 3 bins. Up to them to process the yrash and make sure its recycled or composted. Done our job our end
have your say