A 15-year-old boy was found dead after running away from an adult psychiatric hospital in Dublin last month, it has emerged.
The boy's death, which draws attention once again to the lack of dedicated inpatient facilities for children in need of psychiatric care, comes as new figures due to be published today by the National Suicide Foundation show more young people are presenting at hospital A&E departments for help, having attempted suicide.
The 15-year-old boy's death was "a situation waiting to happen", according to the Irish College of Psychiatrists.
Its chairwoman, Dr Kate Ganter, said psychiatrists had been pointing out for years that there weren't enough dedicated facilities to treat children and adolescents who needed inpatient treatment for mental health problems.
There were only 20 beds in the whole country for children and adolescents under 16 years who needed inpatient treatment, she said, adding that a Department of Health report in 2001 admitted more than 100 beds were necessary.
Yet no extra beds have been provided since then, she said.
Senator Geraldine Feeney raised the child's suicide in the Seanad yesterday, calling for a debate on child psychiatry and the lack of treatment facilities for children with psychiatric problems.
She said the 15-year-old was admitted to "a leading psychiatric hospital in Dublin" recently but ran away. "Unfortunately it was too late when he was found," she said.
"Now that particular hospital will not take young teenagers that are suffering and there are no beds available."
But she said she understood up to eight extra child and adolescent psychiatric beds would open shortly. Dr Ganter said children were sometimes taken into adult facilities "which isn't a good experience or the right way for these children to be treated, particularly if they are very depressed, suicidal or psychotic".
Referring to the boy's death, she added: "I think it's very sad something like this has happened but it was a situation waiting to happen." She called for special units for children up to the age of 14 and others for those aged 14 to 18.
"Only a very small number of children need to be admitted to such units for mental health problems but when they do they need it immediately," she said.
Today's report from the National Suicide Foundation will show an almost 7 per cent increase in the numbers who presented to hospital A&E departments after attempting suicide last year.
In 2002 some 10,500 people presented having attempted suicide. That figure increased to 11,200 last year.
Eight per cent more males aged between 20 and 25 years and 5 per cent more females aged between 15 and 20 presented in 2003.