There are 376 young people awaiting an appointment for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the Mid West Region with 94 of these young people waiting over a year for an appointment.
The information was released following a question from Tipperary Councillor Seamie Morris to the Regional Health Forum West meeting on March 22nd.
The data provide is as of the end of January 31st this year.
The breakdown provided shows that in North Tipperary there are 23 people on the waiting list – 9 of whom are waiting for longer than a year.
Across Clare there are 70 people on the waiting list for CAMHS services and in Limerick a total of 283 people are on the waiting list.
The CAMHS service is designed to offer assessment and treatment to children and young people with moderate to severe mental health difficulties up to the age of 18. The response also states that” if there is a significant deterioration in the mental state of a young person waiting that results in an acute mental health presentation, an urgent appointment may be sought through their GP. This service is available Mon – Fri from 9.30am to 5.00pm.” An application was made for extra resources to tackle the CAMHS waiting list and as of the date of the response, March 22nd , no response had been received from HSE nationally.
