Over 11,700 children and teenagers availed of mental health services in 2021, HSE confirms

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has revealed that more than 11,700 children and teenagers availed of mental health services by the end of November 2021.

A total of 11,703 children and teenagers were re-referred or newly referred to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) community teams, compared with an expected activity level of 9,338.

Meanwhile, 3,357 children were still waiting to access CAMHS by the end of November.

This is the highest such number since 2015, when there were 3,100 children on this list.

According to the HSE, some 1,686 of these were "expected to be seen within three months", while the wait time for the remaining 1,671 is unknown.

More than 6 per cent of those on the wait list (221 children) had been waiting more than a year to be seen, according to the HSE.

In addition, The Irish Times reported in a recent article that the waiting list for appointments with CAMHS has been stuck at at least 2,500 for years.

Dr Ike Okafor, consultant in paediatric emergency medicine at Dublin’s Temple Street hospital, voiced his concerns over the high numbers, even telling the newspaper that the pandemic has led to "a massive increase in children presenting with acute mental health problems, especially eating disorders and self-harm."

"A system that was already under pressure, not just in hospitals but in the community, has suddenly gone into crisis mode," he added.