South Kerry Camhs report: HSE conducting five-year review of young Kerry mental health services patients

A five-year review of the case files of patients of a north Kerry doctor has been initiated by the HSE.

The north Kerry-based doctor was previously the subject of an inquiry focusing on his work with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) in south Kerry. That review found some 46 children had suffered significant harm.

The review of 1,300 files of children who attended Camhs in south Kerry was conducted by consultant psychiatrist, Dr Sean Maskey.

The HSE has begun another review of the files of patients treated by the junior doctor over a five-year period up to April of last year, RTÉ has reported.

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Pa Daly, Sinn Féin TD for Kerry, called on the HSE to extend the sample audit of North Kerry Camhs files to all files dating back 15 years as a matter of urgency.

[ What does South Kerry Camhs report reveal about Irish mental health services? ]

Mr Daly said in a statement on Monday evening that, while disturbing, it was “not a surprise to hear the news this evening that the HSE has further concerns about North Kerry Camhs patients”.

Dr Maskey’s initial report, published in January led to Taoiseach Micheál Martin describing the findings as shocking, very serious and unacceptable.

At the time, Mr Martin said there would be a full nationwide audit of compliance with Camhs operational guidelines by all teams.

The report said hundreds of children received “risky” treatment from the doctor.

Failing our children: How mental health services broke down in Kerry

Listen | 22:59

The risks involved in the treatment by the doctor included sleepiness, dulled feelings, slowed thinking and serious weight gain and distress, the review said.

The care and treatment of 13 other children by other doctors was also risky, the review found, and the authors found proof of significant harm to 46 children. This harm included production of breast milk, putting on a lot of weight, being sleepy during the day and raised blood pressure.

The junior doctor whose work came under scrutiny did not co-operate with the review. According to the report, another staff member heard the person “was running a private treatment service from their home, sometimes seeing people privately up to midnight, and was also working in a private clinic in another county”.

[ Camhs controversy: compensation scheme for Kerry mental health services opened ]

Enumerating the key causal factors behind events, the review said the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for secondary schoolchildren was often made “without the right amount of information from their teachers on how the children were at school”.

Checks of observations of unwanted effects of medications “did not happen”, including pulse, blood pressure, and height and weight.

“These observations were not regularly checked or not recorded properly. Necessary blood tests were not always done. The doctor was not available for interview.”