Ms Hannah N? Ghiolla Mhairt?n:

I would say that is one we have not really discussed as a group. People definitely want more inpatient options. It is primarily around the issue of suicidal ideation. You are discharged out to CAMHS and told to lock up your knives and medication. Families are then left looking after their children. There are various levels of urgency as to how quickly they are going to be seen. A woman contacted me last week to say her 12 year-old daughter expressed suicidal ideation in school. The principal got in touch and they referred her to CAMHS. CAMHS said that because she is only thinking of it, she cannot be added to the urgent list. They are only dealing with kids who have already attempted it. That is shocking, that there is nothing preventative in place. It is a reactive service at the moment. It is down to them not having enough resources and staffing. We understand why that is, but it is not good enough. It is not safe for children. We do think there needs to be more inpatient services and quicker access to CAMHS for cases that are urgent but the person might not have actually tried to commit suicide yet.