An independent review is to be carried out into the mental health care that children and teenagers received from the HSE in North Kerry.
Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has confirmed that a lookback review will take place into North Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
The HSE has also confirmed that consultants who’d carried out a random file audit at North Kerry CAMHS raised potential concerns in almost a third of the files they’d reviewed.
Cork Kerry Community Healthcare commissioned a random audit of patient files at North Kerry CAMHS after an independent report into South Kerry child and teenage mental health services, found that 46 young people were seriously harmed and 240 were put at risk of harm as a result of their treatment.
The HSE received its final report on the North Kerry random audit two days ago.
The audit team raised potential concerns in 16 of the 50 files they reviewed, including some relating to prescribing practices and clinical concerns about the professional practice of a clinician. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare says the clinician is not working at this time.
Eleven of the sixteen young patients have already been offered a clinical review and the HSE says today it’s making direct contact with the other five, to again offer them a clinical review.
Based on the concerns raised in the random audit, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare is now setting up a lookback review and is working to identify a clinical lead.
The HSE says it can’t confirm today how many young people or files may be involved in the review.
It says it is or will be in direct contact as soon as possible with any young person or their family where concerns have already been raised.
Cork Kerry Community Healthcare says the hours for its Kerry CAMHS helpline have been extended from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.
The helpline number is 1800 742 800.
