Waiting times for children with ADHD must be cut
Posted by Bronwen Maher on November 10, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Waiting times for a public consultation with a psychologist must be dramatically cut if Ireland is serious about supporting children with ADHD and their families, Labour MEP Nessa Childers said today.
The Leinster MEP was speaking at an event she hosted in the European Parliament entitled Paying Attention:The Impact of ADHD in Europe. The event was addressed by experts including Dr. Myriam Menter, President of ADHD Europe and Professor Manfred Doepfner of the University of Cologne.
Nessa Childers said: “As is the case with other medical/neurobiological conditions, the earlier the intervention the better equipped the child and family will be to manage it and the fewer consequences will be to encounter down the line in terms of the child’s development, education and socialisation.
“A number of important factors, such as the insufficient number of psychologists available to see children in the public health system means that we can say with a fair degree of certainty there are considerably more than 60,000 children living with ADHD in Ireland today. Figures show that there is only on psychologist available for every 168 children with ADHD in the Irish public health system.
“Getting the diagnosis is key. Only then can families, physicians and support groups devise appropriate treatment and management for the children affected by the condition.
“In a recent European Caregivers survey, most parents in the countries surveyed (UK, Germany, Spain and Italy) reported that they felt involved in formulating options for their child with ADHD in terms of management of the condition. Core involvement of families at every step of the process is crucial to the management of ADHD and to ensure that each member of the family has a clear understanding of the condition and how it affects the individual concerned and the family unit.
"We all know the economic crisis facing the country, but health services and children with ADHD must not suffer unfairly because of the mistakes of others.”
