One singular fact emerges from the 85-page report on the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in North Kerry, and it is that vulnerable children have been let down by this most sensitive part of the health system.
Both they and their families have suffered, and this is clearly recognised by the HSE apologies and compensation scheme.
The CAMHS service has been in the spotlight for many years following a series of reports, now added to by this final independent report by consultant child & adolescent psychiatrist Dr Colette Halpin, into the North Kerry CAMHS system.
The report was commissioned in 2023 after a random audit of 50 files found what the HSE described as potential concerns in the care of 16 children.
This review looked at 374 cases.
Among the key findings are:
- Potential harm in 209 cases
- 195 cases deemed moderate risk
- 2 cases deemed major risk
- 12 cases deemed minor risk
High prescribing of antipsychotic medicines is highlighted and almost all the children with autism were given these drugs.
There was also limited availability of talking therapies.
A national review by the Mental Health Commission in July 2023 was particularly damning.
It also noted that the North Kerry service operated in an area of high deprivation, which put extra pressure on a service already under strain.
One of the key recommendations from the MHC was that CAMHS would be regulated to ensure standards under the Mental Health Act.
This has still to occur but will happen when the Mental Health Bill 2024 finally becomes law. That will be a very important development.
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Today's report has found that the resources in the CAMHS service in North Kerry were significantly below what is recommended in the national mental health policies, A Vision for Change 2006 and Sharing the Vision 2020.
Families where there were deficiencies in care received apologies some time ago.
There has been a long delay in the publication of today's report which has added to frustration and anger among families.
The delay was reportedly due to the scale of what was uncovered, the complexity of the issues plus the need for due diligence and fair procedures.
The full report has been shared with families in North Kerry today by registered post, and the Cabinet is being briefed later.
After the problems emerged in the South Kerry CAMHS service, we had the 2022 Maskey Report, and a non-adversarial compensation scheme was later set up and run by the State Claims Agency, which has paid out millions of euro to date.
It is expected this compensation scheme will now be expanded to the North Kerry CAMHS families in cases where failings have been found.
Previously, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association has also pointed to vacant consultant psychiatrist posts as a problem in delivering a full CAMHS service.
