'We have to rely on a doctor in Dubai' — Kerry father calls for dismantling of Camhs

The father of a boy who is a client of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs) says most Kerry children "just get a Zoom call" from a doctor who flies in from Dubai once a month.

"How can a doctor properly treat a patient over Zoom? We refused to see the doctor over Zoom," said Maurice O’Connell a member of the Kerry Camhs Family Support Group. File Picture: PA

A child in Kerry with severe mental health problems was offered treatment via Zoom to a psychiatrist in Dubai because of huge gaps in the local services. 

The boy's father, Maurice O’Connell, said Ireland's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs) must be completely dismantled and rebuilt to prevent children from “falling through the cracks”.

Mr O’Connell said his son’s only option for regular appointments with a consultant psychiatrist is a doctor based in Dubai who provides Zoom consultations and flies into Ireland once a month.

“In Kerry, we have to rely on a doctor in Dubai,” said Mr O’Connell.

“Most patients just get a Zoom call, and he flies in once a month at a weekend to see the patients who can’t or won’t use Zoom. How can a doctor properly treat a patient over Zoom?

“We refused to see the doctor over Zoom. We don’t believe he can help my son that way. We see him when he comes in person.

“A lot of other parents are doing it over Zoom, but they’re not happy.

“It’s insane what is happening in Camhs in Kerry. Camhs has to be torn up by the root and reconstructed.

Children are being left to fall through the cracks.” 

The Zoom clinics came about because of the chronic understaffing of Camhs in Kerry. 

A report by the Inspector of Mental Health Services, published last week, identified that some Camhs teams are less than 50% staffed. Many teams are missing staff in key positions, including a consultant psychiatrist to run the team itself, with some areas reliant on telemedicine delivered from the Middle East.

The report concluded that families in all areas of Ireland could not be guaranteed that their children would receive safe and appropriate care within the Camhs system.

Mr O’Connell, a member of the Kerry Camhs Family Support Group, which advocates for family members impacted by the scandal over the incorrect prescribing of medications, says children need appropriate support from a fully-staffed service. 

The incorrect prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs to children was a practice exposed by a whistleblower in South Kerry Camhs.

The Maskey Report, published in the wake of that scandal, found that there was clear evidence that 46 children who attended the Camhs centre in South Kerry suffered significant harm and 240 others had been exposed to the risk of significant harm.

“These children have literally gone through hell and back," said Mr O'Connell. 

"We’re getting calls from all over Ireland from parents saying that their children were put on the same anti-psychotic drugs our children were put on in South Kerry."

Mr O’Connell believes Government has not responded with the urgency such immense problems in children’s mental healthcare deserve and require.

Last week's report found that all parents could not be assured that their children were getting safe treatment when accessing Camhs, and called for urgent steps to be taken to address it. 

“I hope they follow up on this report," said Mr O’Connell. "My son is 15 in August. I hope he can do his Junior Cert this year.”