I will respond to the Deputy's third question first. As he will be aware, the national implementation and monitoring committee, NIMC, is the oversight body in charge of ensuring Sharing the Vision: A Mental Health Policy for Everyone is delivered. A sub-committee which reports to me every three months has recently been formed. Its reports are on the NIMC website. The sub-committee was in place before this report was published. It was asked to look at children ageing-out of CAMHS at 18. We are looking at extending the age to 21, 23 or 25. I am open to all suggestions. A body of work is being done by public, private and voluntary stakeholders on this.
I will now respond to the Deputy's first question about the timeframe for completing a review.
All areas of concern identified by the commission in carrying out its interim report were escalated immediately by the HSE for immediate action and resolution, including the review of open patient cases which the HSE is undertaking. Several meetings were held with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and I and I met all the stakeholders in the HSE.
All CAMHS teams nationally have been asked to conduct a review of all open cases. For the purpose of this review, an open case is defined as a referral that has been accepted and the patient seen for initial assessment and where the patient is currently under the care of CAMHS. A guidance pack and associated documentation has been sent out to all chief officers and heads of service for mental health in the CHO areas this week requesting details on the number of open cases identified through this phase. Each area has been asked to report back on this by 17 March 2023. This is to identify the open cases. Once CAMHS teams have assessed and prioritised those cases that have not been seen within the past six months and have no follow-up appointment scheduled, the HSE has confirmed that a number of steps will be undertaken. I will come back with the details on these. The complete audit will be concluded by the end of May 2023.