Kerry families 'frustrated' at pace of review into children's mental health services
Families in Kerry affected by failures in children's mental health services in the county have said they are very disappointed at delays in finishing a review of care.
It comes as the Mental Health Commission's annual report shows average compliance rates of 58.34% for Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) centres against four standards.
HSE Southwest apologised on Wednesday for not yet finishing a 2023 review into the care of 300 children.
'They are frustrated, it's been really very, very disappointing. This is going on years now,' local TD Michael Cahill said of affected families.
'The impact its had on the individuals, most of whom are young adults now, is long-term and permanent.'
He welcomed the HSE's apology but said: 'What does an apology do? I would have called on Simon Harris and Micheál Martin for a public apology, it might give some bit of comfort to the families.'
Mental Health Commission report
Meanwhile, the Mental Health Commission's annual report found mixed progress in adult and children's services.
In Camhs centres it found problems against four standards. These were care plans, risk management, quality of buildings and staffing numbers.
These low grades were despite improvements in other areas. The Eist Linn unit in Cork had a rating of 73% overall. Just three counties have Camhs beds nationally.
'Children and young people in crisis may be left with the unacceptable 'choice' between an emergency department, general hospital, children's hospital, or an adult inpatient unit,' the report said.
Only five children were admitted to adult units last year, the lowest recorded.
CEO John Farrelly welcomed the 'continued decline in restrictive practices' across all services. He noted some centres had fixed long-standing problems, saying: 'These services have demonstrated that poor levels of compliance can be reversed.'
He also warned: 'The number of non-compliances rated as high and critical increased on previous years."
The commission took 31 enforcement actions across 20 centres, including twice proposing to limit new admissions.
Cork and Kerry accounted for 11.52% of physical restraint episodes last year, and the southeast, including Tipperary and Waterford, for 10.56%. The youngest resident physically restrained anywhere was 12 and the oldest was 86.
There were 10 episodes of restraint using devices or bodily garments for between 25 minutes and four hours. Last year, there were 316 programmes of Electro-Convulsive Therapy notified for 235 patients in 16 approved centres.
The HSE welcomed positive trends, saying six centres achieved 100% compliance, four of which were HSE facilities.
Referring to non-compliances, a spokeswoman said: 'The new regional structure will improve how services are run in each area and provide a consistent quality of care across the country.
'HSE Mental Health will develop a detailed action plan with targeted initiatives to improve compliance in these areas.'
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