"Lack of support for my child"

My son is 9 and was diagnosed deaf at birth and autistic at 4. Was initially refused by CAMHS twice before being accepted on to the waiting list . After a long wait and then a long drawn out process for an assessment for ADHD and Intellectual disability. This diagnosis took approximately 10 months with months of no contact.

We finally received his diagnosis of ADHD and mild ID . We have exhausted all strategies and resources and I have honestly tried everything . We were extremely disappointed to find out that we are faced with another agonising wait to see a psychiatrist to seek medication for my son.  We were informed that both psychiatrists for the Airdrie ,Coatbridge and Cumbernauld team are off sick and there is no psychiatrist available at the minute within the team to assess my son for medication.  With no idea how long these staff will be off for.

This is a wee boy whose mind does not stop , he does not sleep even on melatonin, his ADHD impacts all aspects of his life, especially education where he cannot focus for any length of time. I am due to have a major operation at the start of 2025 and and the stress of not being there for my son is a huge source of anxiety.

Due to the long process of the assessment we had originally hoped by this point he would be accessing medication which would hopefully regulate his ADHD slightly, allowing him to be less anxious. To hear that there is no psychiatrist to support him and families like ourselves is devastating. With no idea when we will be able to get him the help he so urgently needs .

Surely management need to support families in this area of Lanarkshire who have already fought access to waiting lists. Sat on the waiting list for a huge length of time,  waited 10 months for a final diagnosis to now be told there is no available psychiatrists in our area is soul destroying. 

My son and children like him should not be sat on another list waiting until a psychiatrist comes back from long term sickness leave.  I would appreciate if someone could chat to me about this and how we can support our ADHD children whose families and carers have exhausted all other supports.