Report on CAMHS is ‘very worrrying’, says Ombudsman

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon has said that the recent report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is “very worrying”.

Published last week, the ‘A Piece of my Mind’ report found that six in 10 children who attended CAMHS in the past year have had difficulty accessing the service.

Nearly half of those respondents also said the service that they finally received did not help with their mental health issues.

Dr Muldoon surveyed 2,166 children between 12 and 17 years of age for the report.

Long waiting times and services that failed to address their needs were main challenges identified by the findings.

Over a quarter of children believe that CAMHS staff were dismissive of them, while only 11 percent believed that staff listened to them.

The online survey also found that 78 percent of children said they have experienced some form of mental health difficulties.

The top five causes of mental health difficulties for children were pressure in school (74 percent), body image (65 percent), friendships or relationships (61 percent), social media pressure (48 percent) and bullying (47 percent).

According to the report, more girls than boys struggled with their mental health – 55 percent to 44 percent respectively – while 94 percent of all non-binary children or those who identified as other said they experienced some level mental health difficulties.

“We must remember that for children to have to turn to CAMHS in the first place they have to be really struggling with their mental health,” Dr Muldoon said.

“So, it simply isn’t good enough that so many of them are having to wait long periods of time to access services, and that when they do, they feel that the standard of those services falls short.

He said that the children surveyed “emphasised the need to have proper mental supports available to them in school.

“This is something the OCO has been calling for, and we welcome recent plans from the Department of Education for a pilot programme in primary schools.”

However, he warned that the report’s findings were downcast.

“Overall, the picture painted by children in this report, particularly around mental health services, is very worrying,” Dr Muldoon said.

“With almost 12,000 children on waiting lists for primary care psychology services and 4,270 of those waiting for more than a year, it is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently.”

Sinn Fein TD for Dublin North West, Dessie Ellis told the Dáil in April that the lack of children psychologists is a “major problem” and the recruitment of staff is not currently “realistic”.

In contrast, a HIQA inspection of a Tusla children’s residential care centre in northeast Dublin recent found that all standards were “either compliant or substantially compliant.”

“The inspection report describes a well-run residential centre, providing safe and good quality care for the young people living there,” a Tusla statement said.

“There is strong leadership, governance, and management arrangements in place, embedded with effective procedures and risk management systems.

“The staff are caring and dedicated with appropriate skills and knowledge to support and care for the young people.”