The continued practice of placing children and minors in adult psychiatric wards, due to shortages of appropriate child and adolescent beds, is unacceptable, the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) have said. Specialist child and adolescent mental health services were “under resourced nationally” and “non-existent in many parts of the country” he said. Last year, there was 81 cases where children or adolescents were placed in adult psychiatric units, more than a quarter of all CAMHS admissions. In most cases admissions of minors into adult units were patients aged between 16 and 17. When a minor is admitted to an adult mental health facility, where possible they are placed in a private room, separate from adult patients.

Source: The Irish Times April 01, 2018 12:45 UTC