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Adolescent Mental health

Posted By bracefy75

"Adolescent Mental health"

About: Perth Children's Hospital Perth Clinic Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital The Marian Centre

(as a parent/guardian),

Our teenage child was sexually assaulted last year. My child, the victim had to leave the school and has suffered immense trauma. They have experienced PTSD and saw a mental health social worker who treated them with EMDR and sessions for the past year. Unfortunately, this didn't help and my child deteriorated with panic attacks at school, in their sleep, insomnia, depression and self-harming.

Recently on the weekend, our gp admitted my child to Perth Children's Hospital as they were acutely suicidal. We presented to Ed who told us they don't take teenagers like my child's age, so we went to Sir Charles Gairdner. After 3 hours, they went through and stayed the night in Ed where a psych team reviewed the case. We were told the next day a psych would come and do full assessment, but after another day and night this didn't happen. Finally, the obs mental health ward had a spare bed and my child stayed in there overnight until the psychiatric and registrar assessed them the next day. They referred my child to Perth Clinic and Marian centre to be admitted as an inpatient and told my child we could go home and wait until they contacted us. Back home that night, my child self harmed again and I desperately contacted Perth Clinic admissions every day for a whole week to see if a psych could admit my child or take on as a new patient. We then were told no, they can't accept my child as they are at capacity. We asked what we should do in this crisis as there are also massive waitlists for outpatient psych appts. I felt Perth Clinic treated us with no empathy and told us to go back to the public system! They said being my child's age as a teenager is tricky as they only have one doc avail for this age group. We were stunned with no assistance and now back at square one again!

I called the registrar from Sir Charles hospital who referred my child to Perth Clinic in the first instance as they had at least tried to contact Perth Clinic themselves earlier to check on progress and advised me they would look into it and call me back. No one has returned my call. Now we are left not knowing where we can go and what is best to help support my child. Once again I go back to gp to get a referral to a clinical pysch and a psychiatrist and have to wait until later in the year to see someone in private system when my teenage child is in this critical state? We have been told about CAMHS for them in public but evidently, I believe this is a slow process too.

Can anyone help us with this situation or provide recommendations? It would be very appreciated.

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Responses

Response from Katie McKenzie, Executive Lead Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Child and Adolescent Health Service 3 years ago
Katie McKenzie
Executive Lead Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service,
Child and Adolescent Health Service

Submitted on 20/05/2021 at 9:54 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 9:55 AM

picture of Katie McKenzie

Dear bracefy75,

Thank you for sharing your experience in seeking emergency mental health care for your teenage child. I am very sorry to hear of the suffering your child and your family have experienced since the sexual assault last year, and the ongoing distress this has caused. In a crisis, it is reasonable to expect emergency services will be easily accessible and I regret this was not your experience. As you would now be aware, the PCH Emergency Department only sees young people up until their 16th birthday. Young people 16 and older are referred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) Emergency Department.

Community CAMHS may be an option for your child, as Community CAMHS Clinics cater to children and young people up until their 18th birthday. In April, the average wait time for Community CAMHS was 50 days, or approximately seven weeks. Referrals triaged as urgent are typically offered an appointment within a few days of referral. Referrals can be from a GP, your child’s school, or another health professional.

Have you heard of the CAMHS Emergency Telehealth Service? Children, young people, parents and carers can receive urgent mental health advice for free without an appointment – parents, carers, relatives, schools and other health professionals can receive free advice. The service is led by a Psychiatrist and mental health assessments are done via Telehealth (like Facetime).

The CAMHS Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) is available between 8:30am and 2:30am, 7 days a week by calling 1800 048 636. The CAMHS ETS provides urgent support to children, young people and families experiencing a mental health crisis. This includes mental health advice, crisis management, assessment and referral to the most appropriate service depending on the young person’s unique needs. The ETS also offers telehealth follow-up appointments for children and young people who have used the service. Please see the CAHS website for more information. https://cahs.health.wa.gov.au/Our-services/Mental-Health/CAMHS-Emergency-Telehealth-Service

If you would like more personalised advice based on your child’s unique situation, please contact our Consumer Engagement Team via phone on 6456 0032 or email and the team will escalate your concerns to our CAMHS leadership for advice. I hope this advice has been of some assistance, and wish your child the best in their recovery.

Kind regards,

Katie McKenzie

Executive Lead – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Child and Adolescent Health Service

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Janet Zagari, Executive Director, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group 3 years ago
Janet Zagari
Executive Director,
Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group

Submitted on 20/05/2021 at 9:55 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 9:56 AM

picture of Janet Zagari

Dear bracefy75,

Thank you for sharing your experience in seeking urgent Mental Health care for your teenager. I can only imagine how distressing this is for your child and family.

Your feedback is very valuable and I would like to invite you to contact the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Consumer Liaison Service on (08) 6457 2867 so we can respond to your specific circumstances. I also encourage you to access the Community CAMHS and CAMHS Emergency Telehealth Service as outlined in the response from CAHS.

Once again, thank you for sharing your story and I wish your child the best in their recovery.

Kind regards

Janet Zagari

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by bracefy75 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your reply, kind words and recommendations. It is very much appreciated.

We had been on a waitlist to be seen by CAMHS and recently had an appointment where her case was reviewed. Thankfully after our assessment, the team have taken the case on, so this is a positive going forward.

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