Suicidal young people must wait more than 200 days for assessment in some parts of country

Young people contemplating suicide are having to wait more than 200 days for an assessment in some parts of the country, according to new data.

In north Dublin, a wait of more than 200 days faces young people with suicidal ideation from the point of their GP referral to being assessed by the HSE’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs).

There is a significant disparity in waiting times across Ireland, with youths with suicidal ideation in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary having an average wait time of 15 days to access the service, the shortest in the country.

Community Healthcare Organisation Area Three (CHO3), which serves those three counties, had a waiting time of five days for young people with suicidal intent – which means the clear desire and plan to complete suicide –to be assessed.

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CHO4, which covers Cork and Kerry, had the longest wait time for children with suicidal intent, at 60 days.

The figures have been released in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward, the party’s spokesman on mental health. The data comes from Mental Health Commission reports on Camhs in each CHO area.

“How can such a disparity between CHOs exist?” said Mr Ward. “We need to do away with the postcode politics that exist within Camhs and the wider health service.

“Our mental health system is truly broken if we cannot give interventions for our young people contemplating suicide. This must change.

“I am calling on the Government to fund the National Clinical Programmes for mental health and to prioritise reducing wait times for suicide-related assessments in Camhs. These unacceptable waiting times cannot be allowed to continue.”

Speaking to RTÉ's News at One on Monday, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said he is “acutely aware” of parents who are “desperately” trying to get mental health supports for their children.

“We talk about Camhs all the time but really what we must be talking about is youth mental health. Camhs is for one in 50 children. It is for the children who need the most significant support,” he said. “The reality is that the level of access throughout the country is different and there are different levels of performance and productivity.”

Mr Donnelly said he and Minister of State for mental health Mary Butler had appointed Dr Amanda Burke as clinical lead for youth mental health.

“Dr Burke and I spoke recently about what needs to happen. We have a very clear plan along with Minister Butler in terms of reducing the waiting lists for Camhs. At a national level the numbers are far too high but we are seeing them fall,” he said.

The Minister said the number of adolescents waiting to access Camhs had fallen from some 4,600 to 3,900 during the summer and that trend “needs to keep happening”.

[ ‘It was horrible. It came from nowhere’: When schools cope with the suicide of a student ]

“Right now six out of every seven children accepted into Camhs are being actively supported. But that is not enough because there is one in seven on that list and we have to make sure that everybody who needs that care can get it,” he added. “The youth mental health services, we are investing in them as well. There is a lot of preventive action we can take.”

The HSE has been contacted for comment.

If you are affected by any of the issues in this story, please contact The Samaritans at 116 123 or email at jo@samaritans.ie