Three times more children receive services at the Children’s Mental Health Center

The Directorate of Health recently highlighted waiting times for children's mental health services in its publication Talnabrunnur. According to the report, 2,651 children were on the waiting list for services at the Children's Mental Health Center at the end of last year, and the waiting list had grown compared with the previous year. The Children's Mental Health Center is operated by Heilsugæsla höfuðborgarsvæðisins and provides services nationwide.

The Directorate of Health also noted that the number of children receiving services from the Children's Mental Health Center has nearly tripled since the center began operations in 2022. At that time, 1,339 children received services; by last year, that number had increased to 3,961. Over the same period, the number of appointments, phone consultations, and electronic communications with clients more than tripled.

“It is encouraging that waiting times for services at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, where children with the most complex and severe conditions receive care, have decreased significantly in recent years and are now within the Directorate of Health’s targets for access to healthcare services. However, waiting times at the Children's Mental Health Center have increased substantially during the same period, suggesting that some of the demand may have shifted between service providers,” the Directorate of Health stated in a news article drawing attention to the issue.

Assessment team expanded

“It is deeply concerning that children have to wait a long time for this important service,” says Íris Dögg Harðardóttir, Executive Director of Mental Health Services at Heilsugæsla höfuðborgarsvæðisins. “Important steps have already been taken to strengthen the assessment team at the Children's Mental Health Center through additional funding and the recruitment of specialist staff.”

She says it is clear that demand for services is high and that changes within one organization can affect others, as noted by the Directorate of Health. “When the need is urgent, people will find alternative pathways to seek help. We need to continue ensuring that institutions work closely together to address the challenge and meet the needs of this large group of children who genuinely require these services.”

Similar trends in neighboring countries

Demand for assessments has also increased in neighboring countries, as discussed in Talnabrunnur. The publication refers to a recent report on the mental health of children and adolescents in the Nordic countries, which suggests that the trend is likely driven by a combination of factors, including greater awareness of mental health conditions, reduced stigma, social pressures affecting children, improved access to assessment services, and better documentation in health records.