Press release
Minister Butler welcomes publication of first ever National Audit of Prescribing in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, has welcomed the publication of the results from the first ever national audit of Prescribing in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The report provides results from an independent audit of all 75 CAMHS teams across the country, from July to December 2021.
Welcoming the report, Minister Butler said:
"Following concerns raised on foot of the Maskey Report and the subsequent National Review of CAMHS announced in January 2022, I requested a national audit of CAMHS prescribing practices and I am glad to note from the results being published today that the audit did not find any evidence of systemic overprescribing.
"I would like to express my thanks to all involved in the audit, in particular for the universal cooperation of the CAMHS teams who completed the audit survey, despite their ongoing clinical demands. This study would not have been possible without them."
The Review was carried out by an independent expert audit team, Chaired by Dr Colette Halpin, and encompassed an audit sample of 21,081 children attending CAMHS. Within the audit sample, 8,191 children were prescribed medication, and of these, 3,528 were randomly selected as a strong representative audit.
Minister Butler and the Department of Health welcomed the key findings and recommendations of the national audit, which the Minister said:
"Has provided a strong evidentiary basis of reassurance for many families who access CAMHS services, but importantly outlines areas where processes can, and must, be improved."
The Department of Health will liaise with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to remedy any concerns raised in the audit, working with new CAMHS clinical lead, Dr Amada Burke, as the HSE continue to work to make CAMHS an accessible, modern, patient-centred service.
Minister Butler added:
"The publication earlier this week of the Mental Health Commission’s (MHCs) Final Report on the Independent Review of CAMHS also provided reassurances and confidence that the issues around prescribing practice identified in the Maskey Report have not been evidenced in other parts of the country."
The HSE continues to progress the two remaining national audits in relation to CAMHS, namely the National Audit of Compliance with the CAMHS Operational Guidelines and the Qualitative Review of Service User Experiences in CAMHS being undertaken by UCC. The reports on these audits, expected in the coming weeks and months, will also be given full and proper consideration by the government.
The audit of Prescribing in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) report made a number of important findings:
In the main, the audit did not find evidence of overprescribing.
Less than 50% of children attending CAMHS were prescribed medication.
Polypharmacy (the prescription of multiple medications simultaneously) was not found to be a problem with:
Of the children prescribed more than one medication, melatonin (a synthetic version of a naturally occurring hormone that is available over the counter in many countries) accounted for 70%.
Only 10.9% were on antipsychotic medication. This was prescribed at low doses.
Over half were on ADHD medication.
42% were on antidepressants.
95% of cases audited had a consultant involved in prescribing.
98% had a follow up appointment plan documented.
95% met documentation standards.