In short:
SA’s gender diversity service did not refer almost two dozen children to a psychiatrist in line with government guidelines.
The 22 children — aged between 11 and 18 — were assessed by senior mental health clinicians before receiving treatment, but they were not assessed by psychiatrists.
What’s next?
The head of the state’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital, who apologised to families, has ordered a review.
Source: Review ordered into SA gender diversity service’s compliance with state guidelines – ABC News
To me this smells of an activist staff who see it as their ‘duty’ to undermine efforts to safe guard children from contra indicated treatment.
I have noticed in my work in NSW and Vic in mental heatlh that there is a combative relationship between psychiatry and allied health where psychiatrists are seen as some how elitist and only interested in providing medication whilst the ‘real work’ is done by the allied health team.
You really see it when the psychiatrists leave the service and the knives come out with ‘oh, he was terrible’ etc etc.
The problem is that the psychiatrists are the ‘medical model’ end of the service rather than the ‘social activist’ part of it. They do not seem to be as wedded to radicalism as the allied health staff probably due to a) the fact that they have to carry the can when things go wrong and b) their lengthy education which is real world based.
On the whole I prefer the company of psychiatrists.
Disclaimer: I’m a social worker…