THE MENTAL Health Commission is conducting an inquiry into decisions by the Health Service Executive to admit nine children under the age of 16 years to adult psychiatric units in Limerick this year.
The commission is concerned that the number of admissions of teenagers to adult psychiatric units in Limerick may contravene its code of practice, which stipulates that children under 16 years should not be placed in adult facilities.
During the first nine months of 2010, a total of 13 children under the age of 16 were admitted to adult psychiatric units in Ireland.
The fact that nine of the 13 children were admitted to an adult psychiatric unit in Limerick has prompted the commission to investigate the decisions.
Hugh Kane, chief executive of the commission, a statutory body set up to regulate the sector, said yesterday he has appointed a Scottish consultant psychiatrist to review all nine admissions to determine if they were all necessary and best practice was followed.
He said the number of adolescents being admitted to adult psychiatric facilities were proportionately higher in Limerick than anywhere else in the country and the commission was acting to ensure the code of practice is followed.
“The review will determine if I have to act on the regulatory side to what is going on in Limerick,” said Mr Kane, who added he could not prejudge the inquiry.
The code of practice allows for the admission of teenagers under 16 only in exceptional circumstances, for example if it is considered necessary for the safety and treatment of the child.
Nine of the 13 children admitted to adult psychiatric units this year were 15 years of age, three were 14 and one was 13. In one of these cases, the adult psychiatric unit was due to be licensed to admit children the following day.
Martin Rogan, assistant national director, Mental Health HSE, said it was the organisation’s position that no child should be admitted to an adult psychiatric facility. But he said clinicians had to make child safety their first priority and if they were a significant risk to themselves, then they could be admitted to these adult units.
He said the HSE had noticed a cluster of cases in Limerick and needed to know more about why this was happening. He said there could be a link between high levels of social deprivation and mental health problems in the area and he would welcome the upcoming report.
He said the opening of a new child and adolescent psychiatric unit in Galway next month should resolve the problem of a shortage of dedicated beds for adolescents in the Limerick area in the future.
By the end of the year the HSE says it will have 52 beds available in dedicated child and adolescent psychiatric units.
Additional capacity in these units is badly needed as the code of practice will be extended to cover teenagers under 17 years from December 1st, 2010, and teenagers under 18 years from December 1st, 2011.
In the first nine months of 2010, 34 16-year-olds and 73 17-year-olds were admitted to adult psychiatric units, says the commission.