Latest news with #Camhs
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Children prescribed anti-psychotic drug while in Kerry Camhs care settle actions
Two teenagers who were prescribed an anti-psychotic drug while undergoing treatment with the South Kerry Child and Adolescent and Mental Health Services have settled their High Court actions for a total of €140,000. In one of the cases, the then almost 10-year-old boy gained 3.5kg in weight in the six months he was on the drug Risperidone, which the High Court heard was not appropriate and should not have been prescribed. They had sued the HSE over the care they received at South Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs). None of the children can be identified by order of the court. The settlements were reached after mediation. Robert Fitzpatrick SC, with Siun Leonowicz BL, told the court the first boy had been referred to the Camhs service when he was under 10 years of age and he was prescribed the anti-psychotic drug Risperidone. Counsel said the drug should never have been prescribed and it was dispensed for another five months in 2019. The young boy, he said, suffered side-effects, including weight-gain, and he had gained 3.5kg in weights over a 23-week period. At one stage, counsel said the boy was prescribed an appetite-suppressant medication, which counsel said was also inappropriate. Mr Fitzpatrick said the appetite suppressant medication appeared to be given in a misplaced effort to counteract the Risperidone, which should not have been prescribed. Counsel described it as a 'case of double error'. Approving a €65,000 settlement in the teenager's case, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was fair and reasonable, and he wished the boy the best for the future. In the second case, a 16-year-old boy settled his action for €75,000. Counsel said the boy when he was nine years old had been put on Risperidone and was taking it for five months in 2018. Counsel said the anti-psychotic was never appropriate for the child. Counsel said the boy had been put on an ADHD medication which he had taken before and from which he previously suffered side-effects. By putting the boy on the ADHD drug again, counsel said he had been needlessly put through side-effects. Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey conveyed his best wishes to the teenager. In another case a 16-year old boy was awarded €17,500 in relation to his care at South Kerry Camhs. Counsel told the court the boy, when he was six years old, had been assessed by the service, diagnosed with ADHD and started on medication. Counsel said his case related to a 23-month gap in later follow up. At one stage, counsel said the boy was prescribed the anti-psychotic drug Risperidone, but thanks ' to the good sense of his father, he never gave him the medication'. His case solely related to lost follow-up.
Irish Examiner
17-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
'Very little has moved' on planned digital healthcare system
Digital healthcare will be a 'game-changer' for patients but concerns about the slow pace of progress have emerged. The Oireachtas health committee heard that a projected cost for the system cannot be shared yet. Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Department of Health officials said this is due to ongoing negotiations with IT vendors. Frustration was expressed by some committee members, including Fianna Fáil TD and GP Martin Daly. 'Ten years ago, I sat in the Department of Health and we talked about all of this, and very little has moved, to be honest with you,' said Dr Daly. Department of Health assistant secretary Derek Tierney said the department is working towards a shared care record as a first step. This will join up existing IT systems, with plans to build a unified single system. This means, for example, if patients go to a hospital emergency department, staff could access their GP records, pharmacy data, and information on previous hospital visits. 'We've appointed a vendor, work is underway,' said Mr Tierney. The plan is to run a pilot in Waterford and its surrounding community this year. 'And then widen that on a national basis over 2026 and 2027,' he told Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane. It is also expected to link up with digital health systems already in place in the North, which Mr Tierney said will be 'a game-changer' including for children. 'This takes time and effort, and funding commensurate with that time and effort.' The committee stage discussion of the Health Information Bill 2024 also focused on sharing of data between patients and healthcare workers. Questions were raised about a section which could allow doctors or institutions to withhold records temporarily. Ms Carroll MacNeill pledged to work on this, acknowledging that a specific time limit may be needed. Examples included where a scan shows a patient has cancer, this would be better disclosed in person first. 'Significant capital investment' During discussions on finance, she said 'very significant capital investment' will be needed to build a single system. 'We are in a live procurement process. It would require very significant capital expenditure,' she said. She said public expenditure minister Jack Chambers is supportive of their plans. Over time, they expect services such as Camhs (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) to be included. The system will cover medical card and private patients for GPs, she told Labour health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock. The committee also heard that the new national children's hospital will be the first paperless hospital in the State. Questions were raised about how records will transfer to adult hospitals still relying on paper charts. Maternity hospitals have seen benefits of a partial roll-out, with University Maternity Hospital Limerick the latest to go live. It is expected that 70% of women and their babies will have digital records by year's end. Department of Health assistant secretary Muiris O'Connor said patients will identify themselves in the system using PPS numbers. The HSE App is part of the overall plan, and the minister said 80,000 people have now downloaded the app.
Irish Examiner
14-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
South Kerry Camhs: Most children affected by over-prescribing now seek compensation
Almost all of the 240 children and young people found to have suffered as a result of over-prescribing in South Kerry mental health services (Camhs) have sought compensation. Mary Butler, the mental health minister, will tell Cabinet on Tuesday that, as of June this year, 230 applications had been made to the State compensation scheme set up in the wake of the Maskey report. Of 83 applications which have gone to mediation, 74 have concluded in settlement. Ms Butler will bring forward a memo detailing the deficits in care identified in the cases of the 240 young people attending services in South Kerry between July 2016 and April 2021. A separate lookback review into the care of children in North Kerry is being finalised by consultant psychiatrist Colette Halpin. New special classes Helen McEntee, the education minister, will update Cabinet on 400 new special classes to be provided in the coming school year while the vast majority of new special classes for September 2026 is expected to be sanctioned by the end of December 2025. Trade mission plan Peter Burke, the enterprise minister, will seek Cabinet approval to make a Team Ireland trade mission an annual event as part of market diversification plans. This year's mission to Canada will include key political meetings with prime minister Mark Carney. Future trade missions may include locations such as India, China, and the United Arab Emirates. State spending report Jack Chambers, the public expenditure minister, will tell Cabinet that State spending for the first half of 2025 is up on last year by 6.5% and capital expenditure up 22.5%. He will also note an allocation of €1.15bn from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility, marking 38% of Ireland's overall allocation to date. Legal processes reform Jim O'Callaghan, the justice minister, will seek Cabinet approval for the general scheme of a bill to implement the Kelly report recommendations which would see further reforms in discovery, judicial review, and civil procedure in the courts and jurisdiction in the circuit and district courts. Mr O'Callaghan will also update ministers on draft amendments to personal injuries guidelines submitted by the Judicial Council which propose an across-the-board increase of 16.7% in compensation awards in line with inflation since 2021. Renewables proposal Darragh O'Brien, the transport and climate minister, will bring the Renewable Heat Obligation Bill, which will require suppliers of fossil fuels used for heat to demonstrate a proportion of the energy supplied is from a renewable source.
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Only 10% of people with ADHD have been assessed or treated, says charity
As little as 10% of people with ADHD in Ireland are prescribed with medication, despite a surge in demand. Ken Kilbride, the chief executive of ADHD Ireland, acknowledged an increase in prescribing but cautioned that it is from a very low base. A total of 25,715 patients were prescribed medication for ADHD on the medical card, or other public health schemes last year, compared to 10,327 in 2020, information released under the Freedom of Information Act showed. However, this needs to be compared with an estimated 5% prevalence rate for ADHD in Ireland, Mr Kilbride cautioned. 'There's probably about 250,000 people in Ireland that do have ADHD, so 25,000 taking medication is only 10%,' he said. 'We've gone from few thousand people up to 10% but there's still 90% that haven't been assessed or treated. Good start, more to do.' Non-medical management is usually the first step, he explained, and then medication in parallel with this, if necessary. There are private psychiatrists also supporting ADHD patients, but he said: 'There's only a handful to be honest.' Dublin South East had the most patients receiving reimbursements for ADHD medicines under the drug payment scheme at 1,261. 'They would have opened up a clinic there in the last couple of years, and the clinic got overwhelmed in terms of the number of people coming through it,' he said. 'They're not taking new referrals, and that clinic might be part of the Local Health Offices in Dublin South East.' In contrast, the data showed just 79 prescriptions on medical cards last year in West Cork, the lowest nationally. While there is a clinic in Cork City, he said: 'People living in West Cork are that little bit further out, so they're likely not getting into see them.' He added the figure of 79 is 'absolutely not' reflective of the likely true number there. Camhs He also raised concerns about waiting times for Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) in Cork and Kerry, also released under the Freedom of Information Act. It is accepted many of these children are waiting for ADHD assessment. 'At the top of the list children waiting 15 to 18 months make up about 70% to 80%, so people aren't getting seen quickly,' he warned. 'Why are people waiting this long? It is an indication of the lack of staffing in the service. The HSE will say we have moved this up the priority list.' He added: 'They have reduced the waiting lists but there's still more people on it now than two years ago because there's more people coming into the system.' Read More Cork and Kerry mental health services have fewer staff now than during staffing crisis two years ago
Irish Times
30-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Children waiting up to nine years for psychology services
Children in Dublin are waiting up to nine years to be seen by primary care psychology services, new figures from the Health Service Executive show. These services are designed for children aged up to 17 who are enduring mild to moderate mental health difficulties. Each primary care centre usually has a team of occupational therapists, psychologists, nurses and social workers, with services including individual therapy, group-based therapeutic work for children, adolescents and parents, and various types of assessments. The types of support offered at this level tend to be brief and last for a specified length of time. READ MORE It is designed as early intervention before a child might need to be seen by a service such as the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs), which is for young people with moderate to severe mental health difficulties. However, new waiting list figures released to Cork East Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide following a parliamentary question show many have been waiting more than 12 months for early intervention. There were 1,838 children waiting for the service in the integrated health area of Dublin North County, with 732 of them waiting more than 12 months. The current longest wait time is nine years and one month. In Dublin North City and West, there were 2,816 children waiting for the service, with 1,155 of them waiting more than 12 months. The current longest wait time is seven years and nine months. The HSE said these longest-wait times were 'due to appropriate transfers from child disability network teams (CDNT) under the national access policy, with backdating to original date of referral to disability services. 'The longest waiting time for non-transfer cases is approximately three years and 11 months in Dublin North County and three years and six months in Dublin North City and West,' said the HSE. Meanwhile, in Cavan-Monaghan, 3,550 children are on the waiting list, with 2,345 on it for more than 12 months. The current longest wait time was four years. In Louth-Meath, 1,447 children were on the waiting list, with 260 of them there for more than 12 months; one child had the longest wait time of three years. Commenting on the figures, Mr Quaide said the services 'around the country are now in deep crisis, with waiting lists that are out of control. Staff morale is on the floor. 'One of the main purposes of primary care is to intervene early, before difficulties become entrenched and the young person might need either Camhs or a CDNT ,' he said. 'What the HSE has been doing is transferring large volumes of referrals from CDNTs into primary care, yet not recruiting the staff required to meet this level of need. 'The first step in addressing this crisis is acknowledging its scale. It is essential that the Government commits to a comprehensive recruitment drive in primary care services for young people.'
