The whistleblower at the centre of the case involving the mistreatment of a profoundly intellectually disabled woman known as ‘Grace’ says the Kerry CAMHS case shows nothing has changed in the HSE.
Iain Smith said this weekend: ‘Nothing has changed within the HSE since I blew the whistle to Leo Varadkar seven years ago. You can see that with the [South] Kerry CAMHS and the Naas anaesthetist scandals. People are still afraid to speak out.
‘When a conscientious new worker comes in from the outside and tries to sort out the problems, they are sidelined and forced out, as happened to me. When I reviewed our services in 2013, the HSE sent my report straight to their senior civil liability solicitor.
‘The Irish health services prioritise legal defence. From the contaminated blood to the cervical smear test scandals, it’s always the same. It’s a legacy attitude that has no place in a modern health care system.’
Mr Smith, a social worker, blew the whistle on how ‘Grace’ was left with a foster family for 13 years, while other foster children were removed from the same family because of allegations of sexual abuse and evidence of physical abuse and neglect.
It comes as a review into allegations that children attending mental health services in south Kerry received inappropriate medication found that the junior doctor looking after them was prescribing out of hours by phone.
He was also giving those in care his mobile number and contacting patients on social media.
Dr David Kromer,...
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