Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon is calling on the Government to protect “vulnerable children” who are being admitted to adult mental health facilities.
It is a matter that was highlighted in the Mental Health Commission’s Annual Report and needs to be addressed urgently according to Muldoon “The Mental Health Commission has reported that in 2015 there were 95 admissions of children to adult mental health units. For the majority of such admissions (75%), efforts were made to admit the child to an age appropriate approved centre.
“However, it appears that these efforts were frustrated as the Commission found that in all cases where a child was admitted to an adult unit, there were free beds available in adolescent units. The Mental Health Commission report states that often such a bed was deemed as unavailable because there was no Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team accessible, it was out of hours, or the unit did not accept out of hours admissions.
He continued “This is a very clear example of the system taking precedence over the needs of the child and is a practice which needs to end immediately. We must provide the safest possible setting for our most vulnerable children, where they can receive the best possible care to help them to heal and grow again. By denying them a bed in a setting with their peers, we are exposing this cohort of young people to unnecessary trauma, at a time when we know they cannot cope.
Niall is urging the Government to protect children and he plans to meet with Helen McEntee, Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health. “It has been five years since the Government committed to ensuring that there would be no children in adult units. I urge the new Government to live up to that promise for the children of 2016”.