Angry and frustrated: Telford's mum's anguish at 'two-year' wait for son's ADHD treatment
Waits have been growing for children needing assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Shropshire – with one mother claiming her son has been waiting two years.
The issue has been raised in a new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following an inspection at the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT).
Inspectors from the health watchdog, who visited between February and April, found there was nobody in place to do the assessments, but the trust says it is aiming to resolve this problem by September.
It is not the only area where children have faced long waits for important mental health assessments.
Kayliegh Stevens, of Woodside, Telford, says her seven-year-old son Kyle Haynes shows traits of ADHD and was referred for an assessment in 2017.
But he remains on the waiting list and the mother-of-six worries it could affect his education.
She said: "Kyle is due to start year three, I don't want this to have any impact on his learning.
"He has trouble with his concentration and needs someone to keep him on task.
"The later they are leaving it the worse it is going to be.
"I'm angry and frustrated.
"The only other way to do it is pay private but I haven't got the money to go private."
In the CQC's report, inspectors raised concerns about the specialist community mental health services for children and young people specifically in Shropshire.
The watchdog rated the service as 'requires improvement' in all areas except whether services were caring.
It said at the time of the inspection the trust had allocated no staff to assess people for ADHD, meaning the waiting list was high and getting longer.
Recruitment
The trust says there are now less than 100 children on the waiting list for ADHD assessments, and it plans to have extra staff in place within the next couple of months to process all referrals.
MPFT added that it would not comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “We have recruited additional staff who will be in place by September.
"We are confident they will be able to progress the referrals quickly, once in post.
"We have also developed a new process which will be implemented over the next few months and this will be in line with national guidelines.”
The CQC's report also said not all risk assessments were updated regularly and care plans within the county lacked detail and did not reflect the views of the children and young people or their families.
Soundproofing was also described as ineffective across all children and young people’s mental health services (CAMHS) sites, disturbing work in other offices and 'compromising confidentiality'.
Inspectors said limited interview rooms in Shropshire led to cancellations and rescheduling of appointments.
Managers told the CQC there were plans to move to suitable locations.
Safeguard
Despite these issues, inspectors also noted that staff knew how to identify abuse and safeguard young people and regularly reviewed the effects and side effects of medications on each patient’s physical health.
Overall, the trust achieved a rating of 'good' but the effectiveness of services was rated as 'requires improvement'.
Outstanding practice was noted in the wards for older people with mental health problems; mental health crisis services; wards for people with learning disabilities and the community health inpatient service.
But they said managers had not supported staff through regular clinical supervision in some areas, which MPFT says will be addressed.
It emerged last month that the trust had raised concerns regarding the high number of children waiting for autistic spectrum disorder assessments.
Urgent meetings have taken place between MPFT and both Shropshire & Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups to try and address the problem.
