More than half of the children and teenagers in Galway on a list for a psychological assessment have been waiting over a year for treatment.
New figures supplied to the Connacht Tribune reveal there are a total of 380 children aged between five and 17, who are waiting for psychology assessment and treatment.
A total of 199 of these children – 52% of the total – are waiting for more than 52 weeks for treatment.
The damning statistics also reveal that Galway has the third worst highest psychology waiting lists of the 30 other primary care units across the country. Only South Lee in Cork (216) and Wexford (226) had more children waiting for over a year for treatment than Galway.
Other western counties such as Mayo and Roscommon, which comes under the same primary care area, have just one and 15 children respectively waiting for over a year.
Nationally, there are 1,652 children waiting for over a year for psychology treatment – and Galway’s lengthy waiting list represents 12% of that total.
The Health Service Executive released the information following a parliamentary question asked by Galway East TD, Anne Rabbitte.
The Fianna Fáil frontbench spokesperson for children and youth affairs said the HSE was failing Galway’s young people by leaving them waiting so long for treatment and assessment.
The Portumna-based politician said early intervention is critical when dealing with young people with mental health problems and needs.
“They are waiting to get an assessment; they are waiting to know the level of intervention they need. This could be children who are displaying symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder, or autism, or it could be to see if they are on the spectrum. This is holding up their domiciliary care allowance and it is holding up carers allowance.
“It could also be teenagers, who are suffering from low self-esteem, low confidence and who are self-harming and having suicidal thoughts. They need to be assessed early, so that the health services can intervene and get the treatment they require.
“Waiting for over a year makes their condition worse. The waiting times in Galway are the third highest nationally, and it is not acceptable,” said Deputy Rabbitte.
She pointed out that the waiting lists for psychological assessments for children aged under four are relatively low compared with between five to 17 year olds.
“This shows that we have a problem once they reach national school and secondary school – they are not getting the early intervention,” she said.
Of the 380 children aged between five and 17 on the waiting lists in Galway, some 49 are waiting three months or less; 61 are waiting between three months and six months; 38 are waiting six months and ten months; 33 are waiting between ten months and twelve months; and 199 are waiting over a year.
Deputy Rabbitte said that the youth counselling service offered by Youth Work Ireland on Prospect Hill in the city – which faced closure due to Government funding cuts earlier this Summer – offers a vital early intervention service for young teenagers trying to ‘fit in’ while making the transition to secondary school. It is relatively inexpensive, she said.
Another service is offered by Youth Advocate Programmes (YAP) but according to Deputy Rabbitte the numbers being referred to it have fallen dramatically this year compared with other years, which is adding to the waiting lists.
Deputy Rabbitte blamed the ‘gatekeepers’ in the HSE in Galway for the shocking delays in assessing and treating young people.
“The gatekeepers are the ones that don’t want to release the money,” she said.
“It is about money. We have great CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) teams in Galway, we just don’t have enough of them.
“Is it that the HSE doesn’t want to pay the money for more CAMHS teams to tackle the waiting lists, or is it that they cannot recruit the necessary personnel in the area of youth mental health,” she asked.
The post Children and teens waiting over a year for psychological assessment appeared first on Connacht Tribune.