Young people with mental health issues 'waiting too long' for help
Children's Commissioner Kuolla Yiasouma launches major report
Last updated 27th Sep 2018
The Children's Commissioner for Northern Ireland has warned young people in Northern Ireland are having to wait an unacceptable amount of time to access help and support.
In a major new review called 'Still Waiting' Kuolla Yiasouma said the system here needs urgent reform and investment to meet current demands.
The Commissioner launched her review in 2017 and considered the whole system including support from GPs, the education system, the Voluntary and Community sector, mental health services and hospitals.
Kuolla said: "I have found the system wanting in areas such as lengthy waiting times, the high proportion of children not being accepted to specialist services, problems with access to services for children with learning difficulties, or drug and alcohol issues, unacceptable failings in the care of children in mental health crisis and reliance on the use of medication to treat mental ill health.
"However all these areas can be addressed if prioritised to support young people within extremely stretched resources."
One young woman who suffered from mental health issues at the age of 17 told Downtown Cool FM about her experience:
"My doctor was the first point of call.
"They were just like 'ok we'll put you on a waiting list to see someone' and then within a week I had had a suicide attempt and the hospital just sent me home and told me I was on a waiting list to see someone else.
"Another week later I had another suicide attempt and me any my mum had to beg the hospital basically to keep me because nobody else was making sure that I was ok.
"I was just on all these waiting lists for ages."
The Belfast woman suffered from depression and anxiety and eventually went into a mental health unit.
But she told us the facility was stretched to its limit:
"I was an in patient and it did help me but there were only 18 beds.
"On a weekly basis, you were assessed to see if you needed to stay and every single person in there was begging every week to stay but they weren't allowed to because they weren't severe enough.
"And within an hour a new patient was brought in, it was just a big cycle."
In 2012 the Department of Health introduced the "Stepped Care Model" to encourage services to work together.
But the Children's Commissioner said the rate of change has been too slow to meet demand.
Responding to the report a spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "We welcome today’s report and it is clear that Northern Ireland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People has invested much effort into this timely piece of work.
"This is a complex and challenging area, where need is continually evolving and demand is increasing. Dedicated colleagues right across the system work tirelessly with limited resources to deliver high quality services.
"However, we know we can and must do better. Through our transformation programme, the Department and the senior leadership team of the HSC are committed to delivering real and meaningful improvements.
"Nowhere is this more important than in meeting the mental health needs of our young people. This report makes a key contribution to this process and we look forward to working with the Commissioner going forward, and indeed with young people and their families, to make improvements and deliver better services."