Child's medicine request from HSE staff member was on back of envelope
HSE staff who assessed a child with a mental health disorder wrote a recommendation for the medication she needed on the back of an envelope — instead of using a HSE letterhead,
Dr John Sheehan, a Cork-based GP, said the child’s mother had presented at his surgery with the recommendation “literally, on the back of a brown envelope”.
“Normally, a letter or fax from the HSE in relation to medication is on HSE-headed notepaper, signed, and dated. This was neither signed nor dated,” he said.
“When the HSE is communicating in this way it is a clear sign that the service isn’t functioning.”
The girl, 14, had been referred as an outpatient to the HSE’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs) in Cork. Dr Sheehan said it was standard practice, after assessment, for the HSE make a recommendation in relation to the patient’s treatment.
This could be a recommendation to start drug therapy or to increase or decrease a dosage. This recommendation would then be formally communicated to the GP by way of a HSE letterhead or a prescription pad. However, in the case in question, the back of an envelope was used.
Dr Sheehan said he had acted on the recommendation “because the mother was reliable and they had an appointment for follow-up” with CAMHs. However, he said such lax practice was proof the “system is understaffed and overstretched”.
Last month, the Irish Examiner reported that an out-of-hours on-call CAMHs assessment service for youngsters presenting at Cork City’s two emergency departments had been suspended indefinitely due to a staffing crisis. The service remains suspended.
