‘A building alone can’t treat children’
IT’S with a great reluctance that Raymond Shannon has become a mental health advocate in his hometown of Wexford. Just another parent who desperately sought vital mental health services for his son, he found them to be non existent as a result of his postcode. A big factor in this was the lack of a suitable building.
What followed was a long battle before staff finally made the move to a new state of the art building at Arden House in the Whitemill Industrial Estate last week. While Raymond and other parents have welcomed the news, it comes with cautious optimism.
‘It’s brilliant news and I’m delighted with it,’ he said. ‘But at the same time, a building alone can’t treat children. We now need to get the staff in order to provide the kind of service that children desperately need.’
While Mr David Heffernan of the HSE spoke of staffing as he heralded the move to the new building, Raymond says the situation on the ground is perhaps not quite as rosy as is being made out.
‘The major one is the lack of a psychologist,’ he said. ‘There hasn’t been one since March of 2019. A childcare worker is needed, a dietician is desperately needed and there’s only a part time speech therapist available.’
Having gotten to know the system quite well in recent years, Raymond has been helping other parents who find themselves needing the intervention of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). While the opening of Arden House is a major result, he hopes that it’s just the beginning for Wexford.
‘Something that the new building doesn’t solve is children being admitted to adult psychiatric services,’ he says. ‘This is happening on a near weekly basis. Children are presenting at Wexford General and being sent to the adult psychiatric ward in Waterford. It’s no place for them. There are 73 emergency CAMHS beds in the country, but it would be unheard of for a child from Wexford to get one of them. What’s badly needed is a CAMHS unit on the ground at Wexford General Hospital. We wouldn’t be talking big money for it. You’d only be talking about six beds.’
‘My biggest fear is that the HSE will now just say: “well, we’ve delivered the building what more do you want?”,’ Raymond continues. ‘After this Covid-19 situation, we’re bound to see cuts across the board, but the area of mental health just can’t afford it. It’s been neglected for far too long in Wexford and is usually the first in line for cuts. While I’m delighted with the progress made, the fight goes on until they deliver a proper service for the children of Wexford. But if a child is in distress they can now be seen by a psychiatrist at Arden House, which is a huge forward step.’