Dan Neville
Question:665. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Health the number of children and adolescents up to and including 17 years of age who were admitted to adult beds in 2012. [6907/13]
View answerTuesday, 12 February 2013
Questions (665, 666)
Dan Neville
Question:666. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the number of inpatient beds available in the child and adolescent services of the 108 recommended in A Vision for Change. [6909/13]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 665 and 666 together.
Final data in relation to admissions of children and adolescents to adult Approved Centres in 2012 is not yet available. However, provisional data from the Mental Health Commission indicates that it is in receipt of notifications of 106 admissions of 93 individual children to adult units in 2012.
A Vision for Change recommends the provision of 80 child and adolescent in-patient beds. There are currently 44 child and adolescent psychiatric in-patient beds nationally (12 in Dublin, 12 in Cork and 20 in Galway). An additional 22 beds are scheduled to come on stream in 2013 (8 in Cork and 14 in Dublin), thus giving a projected Child and Adolescent capacity of 66 beds by the end of 2013. Planning permission has been granted to construct a 24 bed in-patient facility at Cherry Orchard, Dublin. This is expected to be completed by end 2013 / early 2014, with an expected opening date of 2015, and which would incorporate some existing beds to increase capacity overall to 76 beds.
The increase in bed capacity reflects an almost 50% decrease in admissions of children to adult units since 2008, from 247 in 2008 to 132 in 2011.