The board of the Akureyri Mental Health Association expressed serious concerns about the planned changes to services for children and young people in the north and east of Iceland who are struggling with mental disorders and agreed to the resolution of the Icelandic Mental Health Association.

The executive boards of SAk and HSN recognize the importance of safeguarding services in the region and it is important to strengthen mental health services for children in their immediate surroundings and their families.

The Akureyri Hospital and the Healthcare Institution of North Iceland in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (HRN) reviewed the service arrangements with the aim of identifying how the service for children and young people with mental health problems will be optimized taking into account the resources available in the area.

The conclusion is that the service provided today by the children and adolescents psychiatric team (BUG) SAk is in good compliance with the governmental criteria for second-tier multidisciplinary mental health services, except for emergency cases. With the transfer of the service and strengthening of the HSN psychiatric team it is considered that continuity is achieved between all levels of service where the psychiatric team will also handle emergency cases at SAk in cooperation with the pediatric ward. The psychiatric team is intended to treat children and young people with moderate to severe complicated problems, but children with complicated mental problems that need long-term admission require the transfer and involvement of BUGL as before.

The service is therefore not changing beyond this. Matters that have been handled at SAk will now be handled by the mental health team of HSN. The same team will therefore be involved in the service of children at all levels of service, communication channels will thus be shortened and simplified greatly and children and their families will have access to strong service in their home communities in the north and east of Iceland.

“There is a lot to br achieved in the continuity of the service of this client group and we are very focused on good cooperation so that the service will still be available in the region - in close proximity to children who need this service and their families,” says CEO of SAk Hildigunnur Svavarsdóttir.