Sinn Féin spokesperson on Mental Health, Mark Ward TD, has welcomed that a review of the case files of patients of a North Kerry CAMHS doctor has been initiated by the HSE.

Deputy Ward said that the review must be comprehensive, hold the HSE to account, and safeguard children from future mistreatment.

Teachta Ward called for such a review into North Kerry CAMHS when a report was published in January this year into the mistreatment and misdiagnosis of children in South Kerry.

Teachta Ward said:

“I welcome that Dr Maskey will be conducting a review of the case files of patients in North Kerry CAMHS. 

“However, this review should have been initiated much earlier once it was clear that the doctor at the centre of this scandal in South Kerry also had patients in North Kerry.

“In March of this year, I highlighted the case of a 16-year-old girl initially referred to North Kerry CAMHS who was immediately given Prozac. 

“Her dosage was increased on her third visit. She was later given antipsychotic medication as ‘a sleeping tablet’.

“The girl’s parents sought non-medicinal therapies for her, but she only ended up on a waiting list.

“I met with this girl and her parents in Kerry; they told me that the medication turned her into a recluse, and she began losing touch with reality.

“This young girl was later moved to South Kerry CAMHS where she was seen by the whistleblower Dr Sharma.

“He immediately took her off the medication. In his professional opinion, she was on the wrong medication.

“It was shocking that, on foot of the Maskey review into South Kerry CAMHS, the girl had received a letter saying she had suffered no harm.

“The review into North Kerry must be comprehensive to include patients who were subsequently transferred, so that the likes of this girl and her family can have justice.

“The parents report their daughter had missed so many opportunities in life because of being over-medicated or misdiagnosed.

“The review into North Kerry must also investigate whether the same supervising doctors had roles in both North and South Kerry and what similarities led to the lack of governance oversight.

“People at the very heart of this within the HSE must be held accountable, and children must be safeguarded from future mistreatment.”