Isle of Man child mental health waiting times branded unacceptable

Manx Care said it was recruiting more staff to try and clear the backlog

The current waiting times for young people to access mental health services on the Isle of Man are "unacceptable", the health minister has said.

Lawrie Hooper told Tynwald some are waiting an average of seven months for an initial assessment.

Manx Care said additional staff had joined the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in response.

CAMHS manager Dave Rickerby said the changes would lead to a "much more responsive" service.

Mr Hooper said the average wait for child services was 217 days, compared to up to three weeks for other mental health services.

Bringing down that waiting time for younger people was "essential" in future, he added.

Funding bid

A Manx Care spokeswoman said pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic had "severely exacerbated" the times and increased demand for services.

All urgent referrals to CAMHS were assessed within two weeks, while "major steps" had been taken to clear the backlog, she added.

This included hiring a new manager, consultant, nurses, and speciality doctor, as well as an ongoing recruitment drive to fill other positions.

Manx Care is responsible for the day-to-day running of health services on the island, with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in charge of overall strategy, planning, policy and regulation.

Mr Hooper said tackling the waiting times would "inevitably" need more money, and the DHSC had put in an increased overall funding bid to Treasury on behalf of Manx Care for the 2022-23 financial year.

"It will be up to Manx Care to make sure that money is targeted in line with what we have set out in our mandate, which this year will focus on mental health," he added.

The number of people accessing mental health services across all ages groups last year was 4539, an increase of 391 since 2019.