Dr. Sonia Morris:

At present the remit of CAMHS covers ADHD and moderate to severe mental health issues. Moderate to severe mental health issues are one step below inpatient admission. These are seriously unwell children who are attending the service. Someone looking at a waiting list to decide who will get the next intake assessment will prioritise somebody with a potential eating disorder over somebody awaiting an ADHD assessment. The waiting list across Ireland for CAMHS is largely populated by those awaiting ADHD assessments. ADHD assessments should be quite lengthy. They should be comprehensive to determine whether the child has ADHD. This means fewer of these children are being taken off the waiting list because we need the time, space and conditions available to carry out these assessments. As long as ADHD is lumped in with severe mental health issues, we will see differences in prioritisation on the teams.