Teens In Mental Health Crisis Left Waiting Up To A Week For Care

Thursday, 17 April 2025 12:16

By Tara Flanagan

Hospitals lack resources to respond to rising demand, as calls grow for 24/7 youth mental health support

A new report from the Mental Health Commission has revealed that children in mental health crisis are waiting up to a week in emergency departments due to a lack of specialist care.

Around 51,000 people present in psychiatric distress for the first time each year, but many hospitals are not equipped to deal with such cases—especially out of hours.

The report highlights that 16- and 17-year-olds with severe mental health needs are often left waiting days and in some case up to a week in emergency wards, unable to access beds in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Over 1000 people per year used Naas General Hospital to access Mental Health Services through A&E.

The HSE says it’s working on a new crisis response pathway to improve access to care for young people, including 24/7 Camhs services.

CEO of the Mental Health Commission and Caragh resident John Farrelly spoke to Kildare Today this morning about the reform needed in our Accident and Emergency Services for Mental Health patients:

More from National News

Survivors’ Stories And Counselling Gave Kildare Woman Maeve Leahy Strength To Speak Out About Abuse

Audio

Thomas Howard, the 79-year-old former GAA referee from Old Kilcullen, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison at Tullamore Circuit Court.
€34.5m Boost Backs Quest To Study Memory Loss And Build 3-D Biodegradable Spinal Supports

Other funded work includes discovering new yeast species in Irish ecosystems, and studying how early-life memories are lost and how this process differs in autism and between sexes, to potentially "reverse" memory loss.
13 New Gardaí For Kildare - But No Increase For Part-Time Maynooth Station

Audio

Maynooth, which is similar in size to Leixlip, still operates only a part-time Garda station and no new Gardai have been allocated to the station under the latest deployment.
Kildare’s Rain Warning Brought Forward To 9am As Remnants Of Storm Claudia Approach Ireland

A Status Orange alert for heavy rain in Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow will be in effect from 12 noon today until 8am tomorrow.
Christmas Gift Caution As E-Scooters Leading Cause Of Child Brain Injuries

Parents are being advised not to buy them for children.
€540k Worth Of Ketamine Seized In Major Kildare Raid

A man in his 20s was arrested.
Former GAA Referee Thomas Howard From Old Kilcullen Jailed For Indecently Assaulting His Niece

He previously appeared before Judge Sinéad McMullen at Tullamore Circuit Court, where the court heard details of the abuse of his niece, Maeve Leahy, during the mid-1980s and 1990s.
Mother Of Late Harvey Morrison Focused On Change For Children With Spina Bifida And Scoliosis

Audio

It's after the government agreed to set up a statutory public inquiry into the care of those children.