Woman waiting years for CDNT describes what her child has been put through
Joan O'Shea, from Co Kilkenny, is the parent of a 12-year-old child, who, despite receiving letters from a CDNT, has never met anyone from a disability team.
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This has led to her child being put through the CAMHS process due to the backlogs experienced in CDNT.
Speaking to
BreakingNews.ie
, Ms O'Shea described the struggles her daughter has gone through from an early age.
"The minute I brought her home I knew there was something different, but of course, you have to wait.
"My process would have started in 2017, I payed myself for an educational assessment to be done on her, and the woman spotted ADHD, everything lit up.
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"That child is now 12, and she has not seen anyone, only Camhs. The only reason we got in with CAMHS was because I got on to John McGuinness in Kilkenny.
"I had to fight tooth and nail for everything she is after getting, and we still have not seen anyone in CDNT. All we are getting are letters, we are being moved to another list, to another list, to another list.
"They have now moved us from Waterford to Clonmel, she is so long waiting now she is on the adolescence list now and no longer the child's list."
Having been through this process before with her oldest child, Ms O'Shea was determined to fight for everything her child could possibly need.
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What her oldest child was put through in the education system showed that change was needed.
"My older daughter is 20 and has many of the same issues. If you don't intervene and help, the depression becomes worse, the anger issues becomes worse, the anxiety becomes worse.
"My eldest daughter got nothing. I know I have to get my daughter the help she needs or she will end up similar to my eldest daughter, who dropped out of education before she could even do her Junior cert.
"My eldest child, even though she had dyslexia and ADHD and other things, was actually called thick by the teacher in her school, who is supposed to be her support network.
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"My eldest child, I put her into counselling, paid for it all myself. While she has not got the best career in the world, turns out she is a brilliant barista, and has got herself a full-time job, and you know what, I can't ask for more than that."
Having been on CDNT lists since 2022, and receiving letter after letter of delays.
After attending a CDNT meeting in Waterford last year, it became clear the issues the HSE have when it comes to recruitment.
"They had some representation from the HSE there. There is no psychologist in place for CDNT, and there hasn't been for a number of years, so I said can we not have the money you're saving paying a psychologist's wages, so we could outsource it privately? Told no, we can't do that.
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"I asked what is taking so long to get a child psychology. She said nobody wants the job. She said we don't understand why nobody wants the job.
"I said I know why nobody wants the job, because there is far too many kids. There is too many kids on a waiting list now for one child psychologist. The workload is too much, they are not supported."
Now receiving support through CAMHS, having seen her daughter transferred to the Clonmel branch, Ms O'Shea does not hold hope she will ever see the CDNT.
"I will probably never see them. My daughter will probably never receive any help from them.
"I do have to say, camhs have been excellent. They have a child psychologist that sees my child every three to four months.
"The problem with CDNT is they seem to push us towards workshops and self-help. When I brought my child to see the child psychologist in camhs, I couldn't beleive what they could tell me.
"For instance, my daughter can hear the electricity going to the socket in the wall. She can hear that.
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"We could be sitting in our house, and my daughter can tell me when a car is coming up the start of the lane, which is a good mile and a half away, and you can't see it from the house."
"The minute she gets in the car, she turns off the radio. The psychologist explained to me, she is listened to the noise of the tyre of the tarmacadam. The noise of the engine, whatever other noises are going on in the car, and then whatever other noises are going on in the car.
"That is something you can't learn in a workshop."
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Just before her eighteenth birthday, she request that her medication be reviewed. But her family claimed: "This never took place as no one in any service took responsibility for who would be responsible for managing and monitoring Chloe's medication in the community. How to get help EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers. It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes. And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women. Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now. If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support: CALM, 0800 585 858 Heads Together, HUMEN Mind, 0300 123 3393 Papyrus, 0800 068 41 41 Samaritans, 116 123 "She became so frustrated with the 'faffing around' that she told them not to bother." Iftikhar Manzoor, a senior litigation executive at Hudgell Solicitors who represented Chloe's family, added: "When she was discharged from children's mental health care and into adult care, she was effectively abandoned without a full assessment or care plan being devised and without any appropriate support being offered to her family. "Just a week before she took her own life, her father reported an incident of serious self-harm, which left her needing hospital treatment, and yet she was still not referred to Vulnerable Adults Risk Management." This is a forum that could have considered Chloe's case from a safeguarding perspective. Following her death, an independent SAR review flagged a number of failures from Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust regarding Chloe's care. This included a failure to assess and consider Chloe's need for aftercare services and a failure to ensure Chloe had an updated safety plan for use in the community. The SAR also identified failures in relation to the local authority including failure by adult social care to accept Chloe's referral and failure by Children's services to re-refer Chloe to adult social care when she turned 18. Senior coroner Professor Paul Marks, who conducted an inquest in Chloe's death, said there was a 'lack of documentation and poor communication between services and partner organisations'. But he concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, these failures and missed opportunities only minimally contributed to Chloe's death. While "many matters were true or partially true, no causation flows from them", he said. "The unpredictability of impulsive behaviour with evolving emotional personality disorder coupled with services offered makes it probable there was no realistic opportunity to prevent her death," the coroner concluded. Depression... the signs to look for and what to do Depression can manifest in many ways. We all feel a bit low from time to time. But depression is persistent and can make a person feel helpless and unable to see a way through. They may also struggle to about daily life. Mind says these are some common signs of depression that you may experience: How you might feel Down, upset or tearful Restless, agitated or irritable Guilty, worthless and down on yourself Empty and numb Isolated and unable to relate to other people Finding no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy Angry or frustrated over minor things A sense of unreality No self-confidence or self-esteem Hopeless and despairing Feeling tired all the time How you might act Avoiding social events and activities you usually enjoy Self-harming or suicidal behaviour Difficulty speaking, thinking clearly or making decisions Losing interest in sex Difficulty remembering or concentrating on things Using more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual Difficulty sleeping, or sleeping too much No appetite and losing weight, or eating more than usual and gaining weight Physical aches and pains with no obvious physical cause Moving very slowly, or being restless and agitated If you feel this way, visit your GP who can help you. If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support. The following are free to contact and confidential: Samaritans, 116 123, jo@ CALM (the leading movement against suicide in men) 0800 585 858 Papyrus (prevention of young suicide) 0800 068 41 41 Shout (for support of all mental health) text 85258 to start a conversation Mind, provide information about types of mental health problems and where to get help for them. Email info@ or call the infoline on 0300 123 3393 (UK landline calls are charged at local rates, and charges from mobile phones will vary). YoungMinds run a free, confidential parents helpline on 0808 802 5544 for parents or carers worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. The website has a chat option too. Rethink Mental Illness, gives advice and information service offers practical advice on a wide range of topics such as The Mental Health Act, social care, welfare benefits, and carers rights. Use its website or call 0300 5000 927 (calls are charged at your local rate). A spokesperson for the Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust told Hull Live: 'The coroner's inquest conclusion found no evidence of causation attributable to the Trust and acknowledged that any learnings taken from the case have already been embedded effectively by the Trust. "We would like to thank HM Senior Coroner for his careful and thorough consideration of the circumstances surrounding the sad death of Chloe Barber, a patient discharged from our care in 2021. 'Our organisation remains committed to continually learning and making meaningful improvements to the safety and quality of the care we provide. "Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are extended to Chloe's family and loved ones.' 'Worrying gaps in the system' Chloe's family said in a statement: "There was a multitude of social workers and mental health professionals assigned to her case in a short period of time, and there was no clear protocol or process in place that could be followed when Chloe was due to transition from CAMHS to adult services following her eighteenth birthday. "There was a consistent lack of record keeping and information sharing between services, which we feel is utterly unacceptable. "Consequently, important information that highlighted Chloe's risk of harm to herself was not identified. "We feel there was a complete lack of support for the family throughout, particularly when Chloe was discharged from inpatient services into the community." Mr Manzoor added: "Chloe and her family were completely failed by mental health services. "Chloe was a vulnerable young person with a history of serious mental health issues that made her a clear risk to herself. "She had made repeated attempts on her own life, had avoided taking medication which helped her and she had repeatedly talked of ending her life. "Her family were perplexed and concerned that after several years of support and treatment, including inpatient admissions to hospitals, Chloe was deemed at the age of 18 to be able to decline all services, despite the risk she posed to herself and her history of self-harm. "This is a case which has exposed worrying gaps in the system. "Turning 18 does not make somebody with a serious mental health illness suddenly able to make decisions in their own best interests.
