Following the launch of the College paper for A Model of Governance and Management Structures for CAMHS, the Irish Examiner highlighted how limited therapeutic options in understaffed services leads to increased reliance on medication at an earlier stage, when other psycho-therapy interventions may be preferred.
Read the full article on the Irish Examiner here, and read highlights from the article below:
Dr Patricia Byrne, chair of the college’s Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said: “there is always a risk that when you don’t have any other options to treat that your treatment options are more limited and there may be increased use of medication.”
Dr Byrne said a team with a family therapist and psychologist working with the lead psychiatrist can “provide a lot of interventions”.
However, she cautioned the current situation can mean: “I may have to consider using medication at an earlier stage than I would otherwise.
“Medication will still always be used in line with good clinical practice and governance but many children and parents or families attending the service may not have the luxury of the choice of access to a full range of psycho-therapy interventions.”
Reform is “now critically urgent,” she urged.