Children with mental health problems may have to wait 26 weeks for an appointment with Airedale NHS Trust's child and family service.

With only one consultant psychiatrist and a threefold increase in referrals in the last ten years, the trust plans to recruit an extra consultant.

The board will hear next week that referrals to the service, based at Hillbrook, Keighley, continue to rise, partly due to higher awareness of children's mental health problems.

Other factors are new recognition of Attention Deficit Disorder and a reduction of doctors training for the team.

The service is expected to deal with up to 500 new cases a year, including around 60 emergency referrals.

A detailed report to be considered at the board meeting next Tuesday says that at times over the last year there has been no daytime child psychiatric cover in Airedale. A Bradford consultant has been paid to provide it.

The trust board will also hear that an increasing workload means a sixth radiologist is needed. But recruiters face a national shortage of qualified staff.

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