We are failing children with mental health issues

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, today (Thursday) appeared before the Seanad Consultation Committee on Children’s Mental Health Services, outlining the need to overhaul mental health services putting children’s needs first and foremost.

“At the moment the mental health services a child receives very much depends on what the system can offer, rather than what the child needs. The child must make do with what is available.

“The services children receive depend on the area where they live, the primary care supports available there, whether or not there is a psychiatrist working in the area and a range of other factors. The last thing on the list seems to be the child, and their individual and immediate needs. They children do all the adapting and compromising because the system never will. That must change.

“Children’s mental health services should provide for the children who need them, when they need them and in the way they need them.

“Children should not have to wait until they reach the point of self-harm or suicide attempts, so there is a physical manifestation of their mental ill health, before supports are made available.

“Children have a right to be heard, and in the area of metal health where the feeling of not being understood, or feeling that they don’t matter is often at the very core of their illness, this move is even more important. We need to talk to young people, consult with them and get their views. A new, standalone Vision for Change which specifically focuses on children and includes a time-framed implementation plan is needed.

“Communication and collaboration between agencies interacting in the area of mental health for young people is not good enough at present. We have had numerous complaints about Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) teams refusing to take referrals when a child moves house – that is a systems issue. We have also had complaints about children being referred by one psychiatrist to an adolescent bed but being sent back because the residential service psychiatrist disagrees with the referral – that is a systems issue.

“I know that there are at least 15 so called ‘Unfillable’ psychiatrist positions around the country. Any proposed legislation or new policy ideas that may come out of this consultation must, in my view, take on this issue and we must think creatively about how to overcome this problem.

“Young people are thankfully now talking more about their mental health, but are we calling them out of the shadows only to leave them exposed in the sunlight because the services to support their needs simply aren’t there?

“As a psychologist I am acutely aware of the importance of appropriate early intervention This is a vital ingredient in a well working mental health service for children. Universal, accessible and evidence-based prevention and early intervention mental health services are needed at primary care level across all communities.

“As a nation we committed to protect and promote children’s rights when we signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, and we built on that commitment when we passed the Children’s Referendum in 2012. The Irish State therefore has a duty to fulfil the right to health of all of our children as per Article 24 of the UNCRC.

“Nelson Mandela said ‘there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children’. This should be our mantra in all the work that we do, especially for some of the most vulnerable young people suffering from mental health issues.”

ENDS

Contact:
Aoife Carragher
Communications Manager
Ombudsman for Children’s Office
01 8656806/ 087 1484173

Notes to Editor

• The Ombudsman for Children’s Office is an independent statutory body with an overall mandate to promote the rights and welfare of children under the age of 18 living in Ireland.
• Among the Ombudsman for Children’s core statutory functions is the independent and impartial investigation of complaints made by, or on behalf of, children in relation to public bodies, as well as organisations providing services on behalf of the State.

• 6 Iúil 2017
• Cineál: Preaseisiúint
• Ábhar: Meabharshláinte