The Mental Health Commission has published separate reports on Child and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in nine local health authority (CHO) areas within the HSE, reports RTE.
These reports formed the basis of the Mental Health Services Inspectorate’s main report on CAMHS services, published by the commission at the end of July.
Separate reports released today provide more detail on problems identified by inspectors in some areas.
They showed that the overall waiting list in the nine areas had more than 4,450 CAMHS patients, with the longest waiting list in Cork/Kerry at 902 waiting lists.
The waiting list covers different periods from January to April this year.
Community health organizations were of greatest concern to CHO 3 covering Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary.
The report listed 24 areas of concern for this CHO, including the statement that all consultants worked part-time; There was no out-of-hours service; And children’s prescriptions were left without renewal until the next psychiatric consultant was on duty.
A number of consultant psychiatrists and team members also said the service was unsafe due to a lack of consultant care and said “10 dangerous occurrence incidents” were reported in one team between February 2022 and June 2022.
CHO 4, covering Cork and Kerry, looked at nine areas with levels of support from consultant psychiatrists; serious concerns expressed by parents about problems accessing CAMHS services; and clinical records are not being maintained in a secure, consistent and logical manner.
CHO 1, covering Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, was suspicious in six cases, including a team without an occupational therapist or psychiatrist; serious concerns about clinical record management; and lack of current opinion of some patients, reports RTE.
The other two regions each had three focus areas: CHO 5 covering Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny and South Tipperary and CHO 7 covering Kildare/West Wicklow, Dublin West, Dublin South City and Dublin South West.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mental Health Commission director-general John Farrelly said the reason for the nine separate CHO reports was that “the HSE to do the work at the individual level while we wait for a strategy in the regulation of CAMHS”, reports RTE.
Asked about the major CAMHS report published in July, he said there had been a “strong response to date from the Government” and said the MHC had also met with senior management at the HSE, reports RTE.
Farrelly said he expects a thoughtful response “this month.”
He added: “We need to put in place a strategy based on the 49 recommendations. We believe and the inspector has recommended that the commission should oversee that and the inspector has also recommended that regulation of CAMHS will make the services safer,” reports RTE.
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