Ms Hannah N? Ghiolla Mhairt?n:

An aspect which many of our members have been highlighting with us in recent days is proper eating disorder services. There is a significant gap in that area and there seems to be a lot of fragmentation. A member told us yesterday that her child with ADHD also has an eating disorder but she cannot get support for the eating disorder while she is getting support for ADHD even though they are both treated by CAMHS. It is about having appropriate services in place.

We are also seeking delivery on the commitment to out-of-hours services. At the moment, the only place for those seeking support outside nine to five is to go to an emergency department, which is obviously a very stressful place to bring one's child. That was committed to back in 2019 but has not been delivered on. In terms of delivering on the support that was committed to, we were promised a multi-disciplinary approach but, in reality, it is very much psychiatric-led. Although that aspect is extremely important, it would be good to also have the therapeutic supports offered by clinical psychologists, play therapists and occupational therapists. Far more could be done.