FOUR young Clare people were waiting between nine and 12 months for an appointment with the Child And Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), new figures have revealed.
These figures were released to Councillor Mary Howard following a question tabled at a recent HSE West Forum meeting.
Councillor Howard said it is worrying that the four children are waiting between nine and 12 months for a CAMHS appointment.
She inquired what is the knock-on impact of being on a waiting list for CAMHS due to the lack of staff.
Last April, 45 young people in Clare were awaiting a CAMHS appointment. From this total, 19 were waiting up to three months, 12 from three to six months, 10 from six to nine months and four from nine to twelve months.
Maria Bridgeman, Chief Officer, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare, said it is always their intention to provide children with the best possible service they can provide.
While someone may be on a waiting list to be seen if someone with a greater need presents for support, Ms Bridgeman confirmed they will be prioritised.
Most referrals come either directly from the family GP, but referrals are also accepted from senior clinicians/practitioners in other disciplines/services in collaboration with the GP as per the CAMHS Operational Guideline.
If a referral meets the criteria, the team will prioritise the referral according to the acuity of the presentation outlined in the referral and any other collateral information provided.
Referrals are prioritised according to acuity of presenting difficulties, which encompasses the severity of the presenting difficulties, the associated mental health risks and the risk of
harm.
Ms Bridgeman confirmed waiting lists are reviewed regularly and validated by each team to ensure that those waiting longer are kept under consideration when allocating cases.
A service wide waiting list validation exercise was carried out in November 2021.
If there is a significant deterioration in the mental state of the young person waiting, resulting in an acute mental health presentation, an urgent appointment may be sought through their GP.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.