Saskatchewan residents seeking an psychiatrist help, are waiting more than three months for appointments.

The Minister of Health said that the average wait time to access psychiatry services was about 113 days.

Tamara Hinz, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Saskatoon, says wait times for psychiatrist care are at a crisis point.

She suggests addressing primary and secondary prevention is one way to lower the wait times and gives an example of primary prevention.

“When you have a quarter of children in this province living in poverty, that carries a poor prognosis for mental health. So you know, when you take care of kids and their families, that also takes care of their mental health.”

Hinz added that an example of secondary prevention would be making councillors and family therapists accessible.

She says that the quicker they can treat, the better results.

“Things are always to easier to treat or to correct when you can catch them earlier on. If we can treat these illnesses as they emerge, the prognosis is much better.”

Recently, the Government of Saskatchewan invested $4.1 million for more mental health workers for children and youth.

The government hopes to have over 35 more FTEs serving children and youth with those.

CKRM