Kids wait to see psychiatrists

Hundreds of North Shore children are waiting months to see mental health specialists like psychiatrists, as the mental health system comes under strain.

Experts said more children had issues like anxiety and the system showed signs of being under-resourced.

Official figures from 2016 showed Waitemata District Health Board was failing to meet waiting time targets for nonurgent mental health services.

The lack of performance was particularly startling for children aged under 12, with 108 children waiting more than eight weeks to be seen by a DHB provider and a further 255 waiting more than three weeks.

The Ministry of Health’s performance target was for 80 per cent of young patients to be seen within three weeks and 95 per cent within eight weeks. For under 12s in Waitemata, just 56 per cent were seen in three weeks and 87 per cent in eight weeks.

Young people aged 12 to 19 were also waiting longer than they should have been: 71 per cent were seen in three weeks and 89 per cent in eight weeks.

Children under 12 needed mental health services for a range of things, such as anxiety, bullying, early childhood trauma, family separations and behavioural problems, said Carolyn Gibbs, the national training manager for Lifeline and specialist child helpline, Kidsline.

‘‘Anxiety is an increasing phenomenon that is being seen in primary school aged kids, for a variety of reasons,’’ she said.

Any delay in access to mental health services was quite an issue for a young person, she said.

Gibbs said the high waiting times were due to demand on the mental health system. ‘‘We see signs of under-resourcing.’’

Green Party health spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said mental health funding was not keeping up with the increasing demand from young people.

Waiting for help was especially hard for young people in distress, Genter said. ‘‘The earlier we intervene, the more effective that support will be.’’

Both health minister Jonathan Coleman and Waitemata DHB were unable to respond to questions by deadline, but Waitemata DHB said its 2017 figures were improved.

Call Kidsline on 0800 KIDSLINE (54 37 54), Lifeline on 0800 543 354 or Youthline on 0800 376 633.

123RF.COM Children under 12 had issues like anxiety, increasing demand on mental health services.