Concern raised in Ireland over treatment of children with mental health issues

According to figures obtained by Fianna Fáil, over 50 children suffering from mental health issues in Ireland were admitted to adult facilities in the first six months of 2015.

This practise, which Fine Gael and Labour committed to ending in the Programme for Government in 2011, has been slammed as a 'major violation' of their human rights by the Children's Right Alliance.

According to Tanya Ward, the charity's chief executive, the practise is totally unacceptable and may ultimately hinder a child's progress when attempting to recover from their illness, saying: "Children who need to be admitted to psychiatric care should be cared for by specially trained staff in children’s unit."

It has been established that the aforementioned figure represents one-third of the total number of young people admitted to mental health facilities.

It is also understood that the youngsters who received treatment in adult wards were aged between 16 and 17-years-old.

Elaborating on the repercussions of admitting children to an adult ward, Tanya said: "Being admitted to an adult unit can be very frightening for young people.  Some of them will likely face mental health issues for their whole lives, so it’s very important that their first engagement with mental health services is a positive one."

The practise was previously dubbed 'a most unsatisfactory situation' by the state's mental health watchdog, with Fianna Fáil TD, Colm Keaveney, saying the practise “causes untold stress not only to the children themselves but to their families and to the staff working in these units."