Sorca Clarke

There has been scandal after scandal at CHI. There were inappropriate spring implants, possibly hundreds of unnecessary hip surgeries and now a scathing leaked report of an examination of a clinical department at Crumlin hospital. The report has raised exceptionally serious concerns and it follows the Boston review, the HIQA review into unauthorised springs and the hip dysplasia audit. We would no…

There are still 226 children waiting on spinal surgery. Of these, 34 children have been waiting longer than six months. There are also many more who were removed from waiting lists because they were left for so long that they have become inoperable. One of these is a young lad called Mikey. He is from Mayo and is aged 16. He has severe scoliosis. Last September Mikey's parents were told by CHI tha…

I thank my colleague for tabling this question. We recently had CHI and the HSE in the committee on this issue. In the Gallery were representatives of the hip dysplasia advocacy group. Afterwards, I met one of those dads in the car park, a young dad and an awful nice guy. He was in a ball of tears. I do not know this man. I had never met him before and he had never met me. That is the level of dis…

I cannot fail to take the opportunity to speak further on the issue I raised with the Minister at committee yesterday around the emergency supply scheme, where somebody from a virtual clinic, or leaving as a previous inpatient of a hospital, has 24 hours to get to their GP if they are a medical card holder and will receive only a seven-day supply of medication. There is a very real opportunity for…

I concur with the Minister. The two previous items finished earlier and with respect to everybody in the House who wants to make a contribution, a couple of minutes' pause is warranted.

I am not sure whether this was a genuine oversight, but amendment No. 140's subsection (3)(a) references "A responsible consultant psychiatrist". However, under the section of the interpretation No. 2, in the Bill in the area that deals with discharge No. 4 under No. 41, refusal of treatment No. 50, section 91, it also refers to the multidisciplinary team-----

I am discussing amendment No. 140.

My apologies. For once, I am ahead of schedule.

I am unsure if this is a genuine error. Under amendment 140, section 47(3)(a) references "A responsible consultant psychiatrist may extend an initial treatment period". However, under section 2 on interpretations, the area that deals with discharge under section 41, refusal of treatment under section 50, where the Bill proceeds to speak about children - section 91 under care plans - and sections 1…

I will raise the matter again as we get to other sections of the Bill.

I move amendment No. 145: In page 60, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “Safeguards for Treatment Without Consent 48. (1) No person shall be administered treatment without their consent unless a formal capacity assessment has been completed and the person has been found to lack the capacity to consent to the treatment in question, in accordance with the provisions of the Assiste…

I move amendment No. 146: In page 60, line 17, to delete “unless” and substitute “except after having considered all viable alternatives and”.

I will speak on amendments Nos. 148 and 149. Amendment No. 148 sought to provide legal consistency throughout the Bill. The amendment sought to tie the provision directly to the safeguards already outlined in section 56, ensuring consistency and coherence throughout the legislation. It also sought to strengthen patient protections by explicitly linking actions to sections. It reinforces that any a…

I move amendment No. 148: In page 63, line 30, after “applied” to insert “in accordance with section 56 and”.

I move amendment No. 149: In page 63, lines 30 and 31, to delete “in the care of” and substitute “present in”.

I want to put on record my real disappointment that our proposed amendment No. 157 was ruled out of order. This was raised last Wednesday when we were here. Not only is it a missed opportunity to ensure this legislation is compliant with the requirements of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, but it is a breach of children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to pla…

I move amendment No. 185: In page 88, line 31, to delete “without” and substitute “except after having considered all viable alternatives and with”. This amendment strengthens the rights of individuals receiving mental health treatment by tightening the conditions under which treatment can proceed without consent. It seeks to remove the vague and overly permissive word "without" which currently …

I accept the Minister of State's bona fides on this. It is something on which we have an obligation and we have a moral obligation that we should get this right. It is a rather vulnerable age group at the best of times before a young person needs a form of care, be it medical or mental health-related. I am willing to meet the Minister of State halfway on this and try to find a way we can get the b…

I move amendment No. 186: In page 89, line 11, to delete “may provide for any or all of” and substitute “shall provide for”.

I move amendment No. 188: In page 89, between lines 29 and 30, to insert: “(i) the provision of informed consent from a person to whom ECT shall be administered;”.

I want to make a brief comment on section 92 as a whole. My amendment also was ruled out of order because of a potential charge on the State. I find that any amendment which explicitly refers to a statutory right to advocacy could be ruled out of order will be a very tough pill to swallow for a lot of the advocates, patients and service users. With respect to Deputy Quaide, amendment No. 204 lays…

Amendment No. 206 seeks to require a formal code of practice for assessments and care planning, ensuring all service users receive a consistent rights-based standard of care in all services. Sinn Féin seeks clear binding guidance on any assessments carried out, including capacity and care planning, to help to protect individuals' rights and ensure ethical accountable decision-making. We seek to ma…

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response. She should absolutely go to every single CAMHS team to find out what the best practice is and have it replicated around the country. This should be standard procedure. However, for those 763 kids who are waiting more than a year for a CAMHS appointment, that is not what their parents or guardians want to hear. They want to know when the…

I also have that in a reply to a parliamentary question that it does not keep a record of the children it does not see. To get a holistic and overarching view, those critical pieces of information and data must be collated. The tracking of the child's needs from when they present to when they accept or receive an offer of services is vital. What we will find is children who have been refused an ap…

Brilliant.