THERE has been a significant increase in the number of children and teenagers being referred to the mental health services in Donegal.
Figures obtained by the Donegal News show that there has been a 47 per cent increase in referrals to the Donegal Child Adolescents Mental Health Services (CAMHS) last year. There was a total of 734 young people referred to the service in 2021 which is up from 500 in 2020.
The HSE has increased their efforts to reduce waiting times with particular focus being put on children with ADHD.
Up to the end of last month there were 129 children or teens on the waiting list to be seen in Donegal. The majority of these (79) were in north Donegal, followed by 46 in south Donegal and seven in Inishowen. A total of 89 referrals were waiting up to three months to be seen and 31 had been waiting between three and six months.
According to the HSE the service has experienced a significant improvement in the overall waiting period for young people accessing the service since 2020.
In January 2020 there were almost 200 young people waiting to be assessed and more than 80 of these were waiting over six months with 38 waiting over a year. This compares to just nine young people waiting over six months in December 2021 and there was no one waiting over a year.
“This service improvement was driven by the Donegal Area Management Team by building the capacity within the teams and in that regard Donegal Mental Health Service CAMHS successfully recruited a third consultant and now have three teams who operate across the county,” a HSE spokesperson said.
“Further, a 4th Consultant Psychiatrist (CAMHS) was recruited for a specific period in the summer months (June to August 2021) who was asked to focus on addressing the ADHD waiting list.
“In December 2020 there were 24 Service Users waiting in excess of 12 months for an appointment and in December 2021 there were no service users waiting in excess of 12 months for an appointment in CAMHS. However, this continues to be monitored.
“Separately a total of 78 ADHD service users were assessed during the summer with 42 discharged with no further follow up from CAMHS required. The remaining 36 have been reabsorbed into the CAMHS teams for onward treatment.
“The Donegal Area Mental Health Management Team continue to monitor the improvements in CAMHS and are committed to developing this service capacity in 2022 with a number of community based initiatives to enable and support young people and their families to live well at home.”
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