‘I’d raze it to the ground and start again’ - mothers speak out on Camhs failures

Mothers speak to In the News about their struggles to access care for their children

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the Mental Health Commission report highlights the case of a child who waited four days in an emergency department until they could be assessed by a consultant psychiatrist
the Mental Health Commission report highlights the case of a child who waited four days in an emergency department until they could be assessed by a consultant psychiatrist

This week the Mental Health Commission released its interim report on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs).

It made for damning reading, painting a picture of a vital service that is not fit for purpose.

Waiting lists that see children not getting the timely care they need or even ageing out the system, children getting “lost” in the paper-based, overloaded system and clinical governance issues dominate while words such as “confusion”, “frustration”, “unsafe”, “patchwork of cover”, and “absence of care plans” paint a picture of a mental health service that is simply not serving many of the children and teenagers it is aimed at.

For many, access to care is a postcode lottery.

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Two mothers talk to In the News about their experience with Camhs and how they feel it failed their children.

Kitty Holland, Irish Times social affairs correspondent and Roisin Clark, interim chief executive of Mental Health Reform, an advocacy group representing organisations throughout the country, explain the background and what the report means for Camhs and the HSE.

In the News; presented by Bernice Harrison, produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison is an Irish Times journalist and cohost of In the News podcast