50 cases in North Kerry Camhs 'just the tip of iceberg'

At least 50 families from in and around Tralee and Listowel have contacted a Killarney firm of solicitors representing South Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service families. They  are also now getting calls from parents in Cork, Dublin, and Drogheda. Picture: Bill Binzen/Corbis

One of the lawyers representing South Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service families has called for an "immediate" full look back review into what happened to children being treated in North Kerry.

Eimear Griffin, of Pádraig J O'Connell Solicitors, says at least 50 families from in and around Tralee and Listowel have contacted the Killarney firm.

She said they are also now getting calls from parents in Cork, Dublin, and Drogheda.

Ms Griffin welcomed the HSE’s sample audit of 50 files currently underway into North Kerry Camhs.

She has also welcomed the audit of prescribing practices in CAMHS services nationwide that was announced earlier this month.

But she says the HSE needs to review all, or at the very least a much larger selection of files, on users of North Kerry CAMHS.

Ms Griffin also said the national audit needs to look at issues other than prescribing practices, such as the lack of multi-disciplinary teams involved in CAMHS, and the level of misdiagnosis.

“The focus to-date has been almost exclusively on what happened in the south of the county,” Ms Griffin told the Irish Examiner.

“And that focus has appeared to be mainly around the prescription of drugs.

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“But the cases we are handling all involve a wide variety of complex and interconnected issues, including over medication, incorrect diagnosis, a lack of monitoring, and the almost total lack of a proper appointments schedule.

“We have a lot of clients who have been affected by South Kerry Camhs.

“However, we are now being inundated by calls from families in north Kerry.

“Of those so far we have identified around 50 cases we are now looking into and we believe they are just the tip of the iceberg.

“I don’t understand why they don’t bypass the audit of a small number of files and just get on with what they did with South Kerry CAMHS and do a full look back review.”

Concerns about a doctor alleged to have inappropriately prescribed drugs to young users of North Kerry CAMHS were first raised in 2018.

The concerns raised by whistleblower Dr Ankur Shamra led to a damning HSE review of the care of more than 1,300 children who went to the South Kerry CAMHS.

The HSE report, which was published last month, found hundreds of children received “risky” treatment.

The review also found that 46 children had suffered significant harm, lethargy, distress, raised blood pressure, significant weight gain, and the production of breast milk.