No consultant child psychiatrist working full-time in Kerry - says HSE

"The 2022 Maskey review into South Kerry CAMHS found the care of hundreds of young people did not meet standards it should have, including unreliable diagnoses, inappropriate prescriptions and poor monitoring of treatment. That prompted a review into services in North Kerry, published on Wednesday, which found a risk of potential for harm in more than half of files it reviewed - citing similar concerns. It found that resources for the CAMHS team were significantly below what is recommended in national mental health policy."

"Dr Colette Halpin's report said that Co Kerry should have a minimum of four full-resourced dedicated CAMHS teams, including four consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and full multidisciplinary teams. However, the HSE's clinical lead for youth mental health said on Thursday that there is not currently any consultant working full-time on CAMHS in the county. Dr Amanda Burke told RTE's Morning Ireland: "They don't have them at the moment. Recruitment and retention continues to be a challenge and we are reaching out, most nationally and internationally, to get this." Asked how many consultants were working in the county, she said: "They have a number of consultants inputting. There are more than four consultants inputting but they are not full-time consultants and there are a number of arrangements in place.""

There is no full-time consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist working in County Kerry. Reviews of CAMHS in North and South Kerry identified risks of potential harm in how young people were treated. The 2022 Maskey review found care of hundreds of young people did not meet required standards, including unreliable diagnoses, inappropriate prescriptions and poor monitoring. A subsequent North Kerry review found potential for harm in over half of files reviewed. Resources for CAMHS in Kerry are significantly below national policy recommendations, and recruitment and retention of consultants remains a challenge with multiple part-time arrangements in place.

Read at Irish Independent