Mother of teen who died by suicide demands action on mental health service reports
Suicide Picture Years Supplied Clear's Elaine Dan's Died Family Son By By Dan Hogan Ago Who Eight
The mother of a boy who died by suicide while in the care of mental health services has demanded that critical reports on the service be acted upon and not forgotten.
Elaine Clear's comments follow an interim report from the Mental Health Commission (MHC) on five of the nine Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) as well as the HSE's announcement of a review on North Kerry Camhs, similar to the Maskey Report in South Kerry a year ago.
Ms Clear has campaigned for change since her son Dan Hogan (17) died in 2014. She said: “I do not want Dan’s death to be in vain.”
Among the findings by the MHC were critical staff shortages. It noted "team members working beyond their contracted hours, often without compensation".
Ms Clear said: “There is a shortage of psychiatrists. With that prospect of shortages, now is the time to start looking at psychotherapy and advancing a more holistic perspective, and moving away from medication as the first port of call.”
She also called for training of advanced nurse practitioners in this area.
“They would be specifically experienced in mental health for adolescents, and would go to their homes and see the kids in their home environment,” she said.
“Even to give the parents some supports, some dos and don’ts, to troubleshoot and provide some level of support for families. I think that is the way forward.
Voluntary groups connected to umbrella body Mental Health Reform also work closely with children in crisis.
Interim CEO Roisin Clarke welcomed new HSE plans to hire a mental health service director and a mental health lead for children.
“It’s timely to look at the reinstatement of the national lead for mental health services, and look at how we learn from what’s emerged in the report,” she said.
“We see in the report there are fantastic pockets of good practice happening around the country, so what are they and what are the systems that work? And how can we replicate them on a national level?”
She is hopeful the report will give impetus for improvement.
“I am positive because I hope it will serve as a catalyst for bringing about a change that is long needed, and positive about it [because] this raises the problems to national level,” she said.
“We know from the Maskey Report about the issues in Kerry, but I think it is part of the national conversation which is exactly where it needs to be.”
Looking ahead, she said a key change is ending isolation between services.
“The priority obviously is the reinstatement of a senior level post for proper accountability, and see what good practices can be lifted up to national level,” she said.
“I also think funding within mental health services is crucial to enable the kind of work that is needed around digitalisation. Currently, Camhs funding is not ring-fenced within mental health. The mental health budget itself is only 5.1% of the overall health budget.”
She said that Sláintecare recommends at least 10% of the overall health budget be dedicated to mental health.
- SpunOut, a youth mental health service and member of Mental Health Reform, provides a free support messaging service on 50808, https://text50808.ie/