The National Youth Council of Ireland is very concerned by the latest report from the Mental Health Commission stating that 200 young people under 18 were admitted to adult mental health hospitals in 2007 while 113 young people have been admitted to adult units in the first half of 2008.
“We believe that the Government has a duty to provide young people friendly and appropriate mental health services. Apart from the need to ensure there is sufficient capacity to meet the needs of young people, we are concerned so many young people are being treated in adult wards, which is totally inappropriate,” stated James Doorley, Assistant Director at NYCI.
In 2006 the Government committed to a range of measures in the Vision for Change plan to meet the needs of young people under 18 with mental health difficulties. Currently, the main difficulty is the lack of dedicated beds and units for young people, at present there are only 20 dedicated beds. The Vision for Change report recommended that 80 beds were required to be based at four 20-bed units around the country. Two years on, there is very little progress in providing these extra beds and the latest information would indicate that the new units at Cork and Galway are only at the pre-construction stage.
“We acknowledge the fact that the HSE is in the process of recruiting an additional 12 consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists. These posts were advertised last month, and we hope that these posts will be filled soon to ensure improved services can be delivered to some of our most vulnerable young people,” Mr Doorley concluded.
