The 15 year-old girl’s mother was forced to discharge her from hospital after a month of waiting
Anna (not her real name) was admitted to Wexford General Hospital on March 16 after attempting to end her life. The teen has battled with her mental health for a few years now and has been a patient of CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) in Wexford since 2024.
Her mother claims CAMHS are unwilling to see her daughter until she is discharged from Wexford General Hospital. However, the family have been told that the hospital has no access to a child psychiatrist and management have spent the past four weeks trying to organise a video consultation with an “on-call child psychiatrist”.
“We’re completely stuck in limbo,” the girl’s mother said. “She’s weeks waiting there and we still don’t know when the appointment will happen. Hospital staff say that they’ve emailed and are working on it. It seems they have to get permission from the HSE to get access to an on-call child psychiatrist online.”
All the while, Anna’s mental state was “deteriorating” as she spent weeks on the children’s ward, with 24/7 supervision from a carer.
“She’s okay,” her mother said. “She’s really looking forward to getting out and getting back into therapy and trying things to actively get better. She has no access to her usual intervention and no access to her friends etc. She’s isolated in hospital and that’s not going to be positive for anyone’s mental health.
“It’s not like a normal hospital stay either. She needs myself or a carer with her at all times. She can’t go down and grab a cup of coffee by herself or go out for a walk around and a bit of fresh air. I understand that safety has to be the priority, but it’s very tough on her mentally.
“She is being kept physically safe and there’s no way she can hurt herself, but her mental state is deteriorating.
“I’ve asked about transferring her to a different hospital where they have access to a child psychiatrist, but they won’t do that. I’m at the point where I’m considering discharging her and presenting with her at another hospital. I just don’t know what else to do.”
On Monday evening, after a month of waiting, Anna’s mam took the difficult decision to discharge her from the care of Wexford General Hospital. She was due to take up an appointment with CAMHS the following day.
Anna is not alone in her experience. Her mam says that there are at least two other children on a ward at Wexford General in the same situation, stuck in limbo awaiting a child psychiatrist.
“The state of CAMHS needs to be called out,” Anna’s mam says. “The failure is not at the hands of the hospital staff or the CAMHS staff. This is a result of underfunding and a lack of priority for mental health on the Government’s part.
“In 2023, the Mental Health Reform Commission’s report into CAMHS explicitly called out Wexford General Hospital’s practice of using an on-call mechanism for securing child psychiatric assessments. In the same report, the MHRC recommended that each CAMHS area should have a liaison psychiatrist to work with acute presentations to a Hospital. This is still not happenning in Wexford General in 2026.
“We’re just at our wits end at the moment, hoping each day that something will materialise to help our young person get the care and support she needs and deserves. I just don’t know what to do next. It’s just a mess of a situation.”
Wexford General Hospital.
Labour TD for Wexford George Lawlor was appalled, but not surprised, when he was contacted by the family about the situation.
“This is an appalling situation for any child or family to find themselves in,” he said. “There was a cry for help from this young lady and she’s now been left languishing in Wexford General for weeks on end. It’s not appropriate.
“It is, however, completely indicative of the absolute and total disfuction of the CAMHS system in Ireland.
“What’s also galling is that this child, and other children, have 24/7 agency healthcare assistants appointed to them for their own safety while they are in hospital. I’ve sought the figure for how much Wexford General is spending on agency fees and have yet to receive an an answer. But we talk about not being able to get a child psychiatrist etc and no doubt at the same time we’re paying millions in agency fees for people to look after these children on the wards.
“It’s beyond belief and it smacks of disfuction and mismanagement, with CAMHS in particular. It’s something I’ve seen so many times.”
Deputy Lawlor says he is hoping to have a face-to-face meeting with Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler in the coming week to discuss this case and others like it.
“It needs rapid intervention,” he said. “It comes down to common sense and a basic resepct for these children and their families. It’s an appalling situation.”
On a visit to the hospital back in February, Tánaiste Simon Harris stated he was aware of “a particular issue” with CAMHS services for inpatient children at Wexford General and he stated his intention to discuss the matter with Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler as part of a wider conversation on mental health service provision in the region.
While any definitive resolution may be some way off, Anna’s situation is yet more evidence of major flaws in our mental health system.
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the HSE replied: “The HSE, whilst not publicly discussing individual circumstances advises that we are aware of the matter highlighted and are working towards a solution.”
However, this response came after Anna had been discharged from the care of Wexford General Hospital by her mother.
Helplines: If you have been affected by issues raised in this article, a list of helplines and support services that are available here.