A support group for families of Kerry CAMHS patients says a family-first approach must be taken to the lookback review into the North Kerry mental health service.
The Kerry CAMHS Family Support Group released a statement following the announcement that an independent lookback review into North Kerry child and adolescent mental health services will take place.
A random sample audit of 50 files of North Kerry CAMHS patients came back with 16 cases of potential concern, relating to prescribing practices and clinical concerns about the professional practice of a clinician.
The Kerry CAMHS Family Support Group says the announcement is not a surprise.
The group says it’s been well aware of the potential deficits in North Kerry since the release of the Maskey report last year, which found that 46 young people were seriously harmed and 240 were put at risk of harm as a result of their treatment in South Kerry CAMHS.
The group says there is potential for much higher numbers and more lives affected in North Kerry than South Kerry.
It says the review needs to be completed in a timely manner, with a family-first approach.
The group also said the interim report by the Mental Health Commission into the CAMHS service nationally uncovered nothing the families didn’t already know.
The group says, however, that seeing that staff stopped reporting issues because there was no point, or that nothing was done, is devastating and incredibly traumatic to families crying out for help.
The family support group says behind every lost file and ignored escalation was a vulnerable child or young adult, and there has to be accountability within the HSE.
It reiterated its call on Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to meet with the group and outline the government’s plan to fix the crisis in Ireland’s mental health system.
