Ms Hannah N? Ghiolla Mhairt?n:

The Deputy asked about the lack of psychiatrists and the impact it has on our group. This is brought up time and again. People are desperate. They cannot get into CAMHS. They have submitted three or four referrals. They might be on the waiting list or they might not even have got on to the waiting list so they are looking around. People are starting to suggest to each other different psychiatrists they have found abroad. This is growing.

Another issue is the turnover of psychiatrists within CAMHS. A person messaged me this morning to tell me how tired they were having to tell the story again and again. It is draining. There is also a lack of consistency. Another member told me that they were having a really hard time getting CAMHS to recognise that an ADHD assessment was required. They had already had one done privately where ADHD was diagnosed. This was not accepted and they were trying to get it re-assessed within CAMHS. The people in CAMHS were saying that it was likely the child was ASD or autistic and it was not for them to treat the child. Eventually, a new psychiatrist came in and decided an ADHD assessment should take place and that they would organise for the blood test to be done over the summer but that they were leaving CAMHS. When the mother rang to enquire, there had been no handover so there was no record or acknowledgement that an ADHD assessment was required and there had been no referral for the blood tests. Then a new doctor came in and took a different approach. This doctor was flabbergasted that the private assessment was never taken into account and was not on the file. The doctor organised the test straight away. It is so much the luck of the draw how families are treated when they are in CAMHS. The handover piece, where all information should be passed on, is not always done.