A doctor in Cape Breton is sounding the alarm on the state of mental health services on the island.

Dr. Margaret Fraser says she was appalled while reading a notice from the head of psychiatry for the eastern zone sent out last week.

The memo was sent out to physicians in the emergency department stating mental health services is at a tipping point and due to a lack of resources, patients under the age of 19 in crisis will be sent to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax for care.

“I was quite upset actually,” Fraser says. “I think this will be very difficult on our families to have to travel back and forth to Halifax for care and in addition I don't feel the family physicians for the most part have the resources or capacity in their offices to do that.”

According to Fraser, Cape Breton currently has seven psychiatrists who serve a population of about 133,000 people and one psychiatrist is leaving the island.

In Halifax, there are 120 psychiatrists who serve a population of 440,000 and Fraser says the numbers don't add up.

“The provincial standard is supposed to be seven days for an urgent console, within 28 days for something semi urgently and 90 days routine,” she says. “Our wait time is 425 days. I would say that classifies as ‘we can't help you.’”

Mental health advocate, Fran Morrison lost her son to suicide and says having just one part-time child psychiatrist in an area that has had three teen suicides in the past year isn’t acceptable.

“I don't think it's fair for these people in power to suggest that it's an easy thing to just cart your child to the IWK for an extended period of time when there’s expenses involved,” Morrison says.

According to the memo, the plan will be implemented Friday, but a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Health Authority says the recommendation hasn’t been accepted yet.

Fraser says she blames having one regional health authority as the problem for recruiting doctors.

“Every now and then you trip across somebody in the hospital that's being shown around and you'll get introduced, but before you knew when somebody was coming and everyone made an effort to speak to them. Now we have no idea who's coming.”

The memo states the change needs to be made as “we are facing significant gaps, and our youth are at risk of falling through."

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.