A Donegal parent has been waiting for more than a year for ‘urgent’ mental health support for their child.
The revelation was made this morning by Independent TD, Thomas Pringle. He has now called on the government to regulate and reform the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as soon as possible.
“I have heard from a Donegal parent who has been seeking urgent services for her young child for a year and has been waiting for a first appointment with CAMHS for months,” Deputy Pringle said.
“Concerned parents and guardians in Donegal and across the country are doing all they can to secure vital services for their children who need them. This government must stand with parents, guardians and children and take steps for the regulation and reform of CAMHS as a matter of urgency.”
Families for Reform of CAMHS, an advocacy and support group that includes more than 900 families across the country, has been calling for ‘real and urgent reform’ of the service.
Deputy Pringle said he supports CAMHS’ call and called on the government to make this regulation a priority for children who need these services.
In a report published last summer, he said, then-Inspector of Mental Health Services, Dr Susan Finnerty, said she could not provide assurances to all parents or guardians in Ireland that their children ‘have access to a safe, effective and evidence-based mental health service’.
Among other recommendations in her report, Dr Finnerty called for the immediate reform of CAMHS structures and independent regulation of CAMHS by the Mental Health Commission.
“The scathing report detailed the urgent need for these recommendations to be implemented, but shockingly, we have not seen that same sense of urgency from this government,” Deputy Pringle said.
“Regulation under the Act would allow the Mental Health Commission to work with stakeholders and clinical staff to develop standards and rules for the provision of CAMHS community services across the country and enable the Commission to monitor implementation of those recommendations.”