– Of course it is highly unsatisfactory.
This is how naalakkersuisoq for health and persons with disabilities, Anna Wangenheim (D), begins her response to the criticism and the reports that have come forward in the past month about the long waiting times for examination in psychiatry.
– Of course it is highly unsatisfactory.
This is how naalakkersuisoq for health and persons with disabilities, Anna Wangenheim (D), begins her response to the criticism and the reports that have come forward in the past month about the long waiting times for examination in psychiatry.
Since the end of August, several people have come forward in the newspaper here and told about their various experiences in the psychiatric system. What they all have in common has been that they have struggled with diagnoses such as ADHD or autism.
We have a societal challenge when it comes to mental health, and we are all more or less partly responsible for the fact that we have ended up here today
While some manage to get help in psychiatry, there are others who, at the time of writing, are waiting to get an appointment with a psychiatrist after several years on the waiting list. Some have also had their referral rejected and are considering seeking help in Denmark instead.
According to the health service, this is due to the waiting time and rejectionsthat there are not enough staff in psychiatry to both handle the many referrals for investigation and handle the many other tasks that psychiatry has to handle.
However, the pressure in psychiatry extends far beyond the healthcare system and can be felt throughout society, pointed out the disability organizations NiiK and Tilioq recently to the AG.
When people with mental health diagnoses and disabilities or their relatives cannot get the help they need from the system, it can have major social consequences. In the end, it could cost human lives, said NiiK chairman Viggo Johansen, among others.
Necessary to prioritize severe mental disorders
According to naalakkersuisoq for health and persons with disabilities, the historically long waiting lists for examination for ADHD and autism are an expression of how pressured psychiatry in the healthcare system is right now.
But she finds it worrying that some patients currently experience being completely rejected for a time in psychiatry after they have received a doctor’s referral.
– It shouldn’t happen. But at the same time, one must also recognize that for many, many, many years, psychiatry has only had a capacity corresponding to 12 beds, says Anna Wangenheim and continues:
– Citizens with really severe psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and other disorders that are enormously inhibiting for the individual, but also for society, have had to be prioritized.
In addition, there have long been major recruitment challenges and thus a lack of staff in psychiatry – as well as elsewhere in the healthcare system. However, this does not mean that other types of patients should be neglected, emphasizes Anna Wangenheim.
– On the contrary, we must build a system that can also take care of the group of citizens who want an investigation for, for example, ADHD.
Several countries around the world are experiencing challenges with psychological unhappiness. In Denmark, there has long been talk of a well-being crisis, especially among children and young people, and according to the World Health Organization WHO, over one billion people live with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
It is a worrying trend that must be taken seriously – also here at home, emphasizes Anna Wangenheim.
– The increase in children and young people’s unhappiness is something that we must have thoroughly investigated – but which we must also have done something about, she says.
She agrees with the disability organizations that in all layers of the system – both in the schools and in the municipalities – there is a lack of tools to help citizens with mental disorders or disabilities to have a good life.
Who is actually responsible for the fact that the pressure on psychiatry has become as great as it is today?
– We have a social challenge when it comes to mental health, and we are all more or less partly responsible for the fact that we have ended up here today, answers Anna Wangenheim.
No easy or quick fix
The amount of referrals for investigation for ADHD and autism has increased explosively within the past few years. This has been reported by the health service, and Anna Wangenheim recognizes the picture.
Therefore, it is also a relatively new reality that the staff in psychiatry must deal with, she points out.
– It is a task that you have not previously had either the capacity for or the expertise to support, she says.
But with a brand new psychiatry building in Nuuk, more beds and a long-term plan for psychiatry that Naalakkersuisut intends to draw up, psychiatry will be strengthened in the future, she hopes.
The new psychiatry building will expand the number of beds from the current 12 to 22. In combination with the relay scheme between the Greenlandic health service and Danish hospitals, which came into force last month, Anna Wangenheim expects that in the future it will be possible to improve and expand the treatment offer in psychiatry – and in this way the waiting time for an examination will come to an end.
– It has been important for us to prioritize psychiatry in the relay scheme, so that child and adolescent psychiatry, but also adult psychiatry, get their own psychiatrist who can help strengthen the whole area, she says.
After all, there are people who have been waiting for years for help. What will you say to them?
– Here and now it is important to reach out and find comfort and support in each other. Reach out to association life or others, because you are not alone, answers Anna Wangenheim.
– In addition, I would like to emphasize that we are underway. Our psychiatry plan must help to optimize treatment services together with the relay scheme, which must help to add more employees.
– But it just takes time, and there are no quick or easy solutions to it.
