Parents of children who were misdiagnosed by David Kromer seek action
PARENTS of children who suffered as a result of the drugs misdiagnosis scandal have called for those who oversaw the Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) from 2016 to 2020 to be held to account.
The recently published Maskey report revealed 227 children who were treated by a junior doctor, Dr David Kromer, had been exposed to the risk of significant harm through his diagnoses and treatment of them. Some 46 children were identified as having suffered ‘significant harm’, while a further 13 were found to have been unnecessarily exposed to a risk of harm under the care of other doctors in the service.
The Kerry CAMHS Family Support Group this week met with Minister of State for Mental Health Services, Mary Butler, Education Minister Norma Foley and other TDs to discuss ongoing supports and the impact South Kerry CAMHS had on their families.
A spokeswoman for the group, who previously told the Irish Mail on Sunday about how her child was left effectively sedated for two years under the drugs prescribed by Dr Kromer, said parents had felt listened to during the meetings. TDs were supplied with a booklet of statements from individual parents on how they have been affected, which ‘moved some TDs to tears’, according to the spokeswoman.
However, the spokeswoman said that ‘now it is time for action’ to bring in the supports that are needed for children and for those who oversaw the service to be held to account.
She told the MoS: ‘What the Maskey report lacked was the actual impact on families. The impact on the families of the mismanagement he has identified is missing in his report, but we were told that the national audit that will be taking place will involve the families affected which is a very important step in getting the whole story.’ She added: ‘We need accountability in all of this from those who were overseeing what was going on here and who should have listened to concerns and acted immediately. We want accountability further up; the fact this doctor was able to cause so much harm for such a long time is ridiculous.’
During a meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee this week, Social Democrats leader Róisín Shortall asked who was responsible for those in South Kerry CAMHS up to 2020, when Dr Kromer was employed in the service. HSE Chief Operating Officer Anne O’Connor said the Chief Officer of the service at the time was Ger Reaney, who was succeeded by Michael Fitzgerald in 2020.
Current South Kerry CAMHS Executive Clinical Director, Dr Maura Young, told the hearing her predecessor who was in situ at the time of the misdiagnoses was Dr Darra Phelan.
When Ms Shortall asked if either of these currently have any involvement with HSE services, Ms O’Connor replied: ‘I’m not aware that they have, no.’
Ms Shortall pressed her on the issue, asking: ‘Is that a no?’
Ms O’Connor replied: ‘I’m not aware that they have, I’m fairly sure, not.’
During the meeting, Ms Shortall also highlighted a finding in the Maskey report that the junior doctor at the centre of the scandal was recommended for other jobs, despite the service being aware of complaints made about his treatment of patients.
When she asked who provided Dr Kromer with a reference at this time, Dr Young told the committee: ‘I think what Maskey was responding to is at the end of June of 2020. The doctor wanted to leave his HSE employment. He no longer wanted to do on-call work at night and he joined a locum agency and he would have got a reference from the then ECD at that time.’
Ms Shortall also flagged ongoing issues with accountability in the HSE.
‘We hear apologies and we hear of people being thanked, but we never find out who was responsible for allowing the situation to occur and what action was taken on foot of the concerns raised by the whistleblower and that’s what we need to hear,’ she said.
Responding to questions about accountability structures within the HSE, Ms O’Connor said removing people from their posts is not a straightforward procedure, ‘as you will be aware’.