The HSE today (January 26th) published the Maskey Review into the care received by children and young people at South Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health services between July 2016 and April 2021.
The full report and other documentation prepared to update the young people and families involved are available below:
Note: The Easy Read version of the Executive Summary respects the Inclusion Europe easy-to-read guidelines and carries the European Easy to Read Logo. It is intended to make the report summary accessible to all audiences.
The review found that the care received by 240 young people did not meet the standards which it should have, and the HSE has apologised to these young people and their families.
Dr Seán Maskey found “unreliable diagnoses, inappropriate prescriptions and poor monitoring of treatment and potential adverse effects” which exposed many children unnecessarily to the risk of significant harm.
The report also details that significant harm was caused to 46 children and young people, including weight gain; sedation; elevated blood pressure and galactorroea (the production of breast milk).
We have sincerely apologised to the 46 young people and their families, and we wish to repeat this apology publicly today.
HSE officials and clinicians offered meetings to all 240 of the young people who did not receive the care they should have. We have apologised in writing to those affected, we apologised in person at meetings and today we sincerely repeat this apology.
We opened an information line in April for young people and their families on 1800 742 800 The current opening hours are 8am to 8pm seven days a week.
The report was commissioned by Michael Fitzgerald, Chief Officer of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, which has responsibility for HSE mental health services in Kerry.
Mr Fitzgerald said today:
“Young people and their families are entitled to expect a high standard of care when they attend our services, and the report makes it clear that this did not happen in a large number of cases. As Chief Officer of the organisation, I apologise sincerely to the young people and their families for this. I want to reassure the young people and their families that we have taken on board the 35 recommendations in the report, and will implement them as quickly as we can.”
Mr Fitzgerald added:
“In publishing the report, it is very important to us that we thank the young people and their families involved in the review. I attended some of the meetings with the young people myself, so that I could hear about the experience they had with our service first hand and also to offer them a formal apology. The staff involved in the extensive review process have been humbled by the dignity shown by the young people and their families, by the patience they have had with the process and also by the respect they have shown for our staff. It is clear to us that we let people down and we have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust in the service, and this work has already begun.”
Compensation Scheme – Cork Kerry CAMHS
FAQ Compensation Scheme (PDF, 154 KB, 3 pages)
Terms of Reference for Compensation Scheme (PDF, 124 KB, 4 pages)
