Danny Healy-Rae: Apologises to Families over CAMHS Failings
Danny Healy-Rae spoke about the now-public CAMHS report, apologising to families and children and condemning failures in child mental health care. He highlighted figures from the review, described adverse effects experienced by patients, and urged staffing and accountability rather than increased medication.
CAMHS report findings
He said 1,332 files were reviewed and that risky treatment occurred in 227 cases. The risks he listed included sleepiness, dull feelings, slow thinking, serious weight gain and stress.
Reported harms to children
He said a further 46 children experienced significant harm. He listed harms including production of breast milk, large weight gain, increased daytime sleepiness and raised blood pressure.
Apology and local impact
He apologised as an elected member from Kerry to the families, parents and children who sought help and were let down. He described them as friends and neighbours and said it was very sad what had been done to them.
Calls for staffing and accountability
He criticised elements of the HSE while saying there were good people in the service, and said the HSE had no senior consultant child psychiatrist. He called for more psychologists and workers, warned against "pumping drugs into" young people, and urged the Minister to acknowledge a link between insufficient mental health care and suicide.
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First of all, we all heard about the damning report of CAMHS this morning, and it is public now. The parents and the children know about it for much longer. As an elected member from Kerry, I want to apologise to the families, the parents and the children. They did nothing wrong, only everything right. They went to seek help, and they didn't get proper help. They were left badly down. We learned that 1,332 foils were reviewed, and that there was risky treatment to 227. The risks included one or more of these, sleepiness, dull feelings, slow thinking, serious weight gain, and the stress. There was 46 more children that the significant harem did. The harem included production of breast milk, putting a lot of weight gain, putting a lot of sleep during the day, raised blood pressure. As boys and girls go through the change from men to women, they will always have little problems. But I say to you, Minister, pumping drugs into them is not the answer. We need more workers. The HSE said that they had no senior consultant child psychiatrist. We need psychologists as well, at the start. There are good people in the HSE, but there are fairly useless people in the HSE, but there are fairly useless people there as well. I apologise to the children and the parents as an elected member from Kerry. They are my friends and neighbours, and it is very sad what has been done to them. And Minister, this can never again happen. There is no shadow without suicide is linked to insufficient mental health care. I want the Minister to acknowledge that. I'm sure she'll address that in our contribution. WELCIA WELCIA
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