A mother has accused the HSE of failing children with mental health issues, warning that her efforts to access care for her autistic son were met with “complete obstruction”.

Audrey Dore-Geraghty’s son Harrison is nine years old and was diagnosed with autism and ADHD when he was two. 

For the Dore-Geraghty family, the seven years since have been a constant battle to get him the healthcare he needs.

“He started off as quite a quirky, chirpy, hyperactive child and as the years have gone on, he’s become more and more of a challenge - to the extent that we’ve made a lot of life changes,” Ms Dore-Geraghty told Newstalk Breakfast.  

“Moving houses, moving locations, moving schools, giving up our business, trying to provide some form of break for one another by job sharing to a degree.”

CAMHS

A recent review into the HSE’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) concluded it was understaffed and “dysfunctional” in parts. 

It is a conclusion that mirrors Dore-Geraghty's experience of the service. 

“[We encountered] just complete obstruction,” she said. 

“There is just no accessing them, so when Harrison was five years old, he was referred to Temple Street Private Psychiatrist. 

“From there, the psychiatrist worked with us but was also aware that he needed a multidisciplinary approach - which can only be found in a HSE multi-system area, such as CAMHS.” 

The family moved to Wexford when Harrison was five years old and GPs in the county have sent four referrals to CAMHS - all of which described his care needs as ‘urgent’. 

“They were all met with rejections,” Ms Dore-Geraghty said. 

“We were referred to a paediatrician in Wexford General. When we waited for that appointment, we asked him would his referral hold more weight to get us into CAMHS? 

“So, he sent a referral and he got another rejection letter.” 

Ms Dore-Geraghty said the family reached out to private psychiatrists in Ireland but were “getting nowhere”.

Out of desperation, Ms Dore-Geraghty emailed a number of child psychiatrists working abroad and was surprised by the reaction. 

“I was so humbled and shocked by the responses that we got,” she said. 

“Within two days of [emailing] six Spanish psychiatrists, four of them came back to me. 

“Two of them came back on email and two came back with personal phone calls from the psychiatrists. 

“Anyone who has ever tried to access an Irish - private or public - psychiatrist knows there are so many hurdles to jump through to get to the point of meeting with them.”

Failure of politics

Ms Dore-Geraghty said she is not sure what Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is “doing in his post” and believes the needs of families in need are being ignored. 

“[He is] completely ignoring and leaving mothers and fathers and siblings abandoned with children with severe mental disabilities and severe developmental issues,” she said.  

“He needs to start really making a move on improving the lives of the future generations.

“He is leaving the most vulnerable and the most in need neglected.” 

Earlier this month, Minister Donnelly told Newstalk Breakfast that waiting lists for the service are falling. 

“At the start of the summer, the waiting list was about 4,600,” he said.

“It has fallen over the summer to about 3,900.

“That’s partly because we put waiting list initiatives in place and new teams in place at the start of the year.”

Main image: Audrey Dore-Geraghty and Harrison.