The children mental health waiting list has now exceeded 4,500 and is growing.
The latest figures show that at the end of January, there were 4,587 children on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) waiting list, compared with 4,047 in September. Within four months, the list had expanded to more than 500 other kids. Of these, over 587 children have been waiting for more than a year. And 328 kids in Cork and Kerry, in the HSE South West area, have waited just as long. Another 559 have been on the list for nine months or longer. Another 774 kids have been waiting for between six and nine months.
Why the children mental health waiting list is growing
This is nothing new. Warnings about Camhs have been in place for years. The Mental Health Commission delivered a damning report back in 2022 recommending immediate independent regulation but
nothing has happened. TD and chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee Pádraig Rice told the Irish Examiner the growing figures are worrying and these vulnerable kids are being let down. “It’s been almost three years since the Commission’s report and the main recommendation hasn’t been implemented,” he says. There is no excuse for this,” he said, referring to the ongoing access problems.
HSE South-West has expanded its review of Camhs services in North Kerry to encompass all children seen before November 2022.
A previous review of 374 cases found that over half had risks, some serious. Two children were in serious danger and 195 were in moderate danger. They should have been attended to at once.
The results of this extended review are yet to be seen but the initial findings offer little optimism.
Parents and advocates have been calling for better care and faster services for years. They’re worried that it could get worse. The children mental health waiting list is not just a statistic. Every child waiting is dealing with things like depression or anxiety and the wait is crushing.
Experts say it’s important to intervene early with mental health issues.
The longer kids wait, the harder it becomes to help them effectively. The growing waiting list is alarming. The HSE has promised to address the issue but the numbers have yet to improve.
What can families do? Families on these waiting lists face tough choices.
Some can pay for private therapists, but it’s expensive. Others seek help from support groups or charities. But these options cannot replace a strong public mental health service.
And politicians like Rice continue to call on the government to listen to the advice of the Mental Health Commission and do something. They want more staff, tougher regulations and
improved funding. But progress is slow going.
As the North Kerry inquiry expands, further disturbing discoveries may surface. It’s not clear when HSE will cut waiting list, not anytime soon. This is an urgent problem that requires the close attention of everyone.
For more on related healthcare challenges, see our article on Irish rehab wait times crisis. Learn about the broader context of mental health care from the World Health Organization.
