Over 50 children have been accommodated in adult psychiatric units over the past two years, according to new Freedom of Information figures.

The figures show 27 children were placed in adult units in 2020 and 25 in the first 11 months of last year.

The HSE said children are placed in adult units when there is no bed available in a child and adolescent unit.

Resources

Trinity College Dublin Psychiatry Professor Brendan Kelly told Newstalk more investment is needed to end the practice.

“Ideally a child should be admitted to a child and adolescent psychiatry inpatient unit,” he said.

“Being admitted to an adult unit makes the admission process more anxiety-provoking. It is common for a child or a young person to feel very apprehensive or to feel somewhat out of their depth in adult unit so it is far from ideal that someone over the age of 18 would be admitted to an adult unit.”

He called for the practice to end as soon as possible.

“The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) is under-resourced to deal with both the outpatient needs and the inpatient needs of the population it serves,” he said.

“An increase in the number of beds and the number of suitable facilities would help enormously and help prevent children being inappropriately admitted to adult in patient units.”

The figures show ten children were cared for in the department of psychiatry in Waterford Regional Hospital in 2021 - the highest in the country.

"Emergency"

Tanya Ward, from the Children's Rights Alliance, says the practice causes extra distress for vulnerable young people.

“These are emergency situation,” she said.

“A child can be very distressed. These can be possibly the most difficult circumstances in their life they are dealing with. Some of these children could be suicidal and it can be very frightening for them if they are admitted to an adult psychiatric unit.”

The new figures come ahead of a special Dáil debate on youth mental health services today.

The waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services increased by almost a third in the year to last November, when they stood at 3,357.