Lisa Chambers
Question:416. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Health if there are children under 18 years of age receiving treatment in adult mental health services. [18204/16]
View answerTuesday, 28 June 2016
Questions (416)
Written answers
It is the policy of the HSE to provide an age appropriate mental health service. A significant majority of young people are now being treated by a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team. A total of 29 Child and Adolescent service users have been admitted to adult mental health units up to the end of April this year. There have been some difficulties in recruiting and retaining Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services staff, particularly consultant psychiatrists. Due to these operational staff recruitment and retention challenges at local level, a number of referrals in the 16-18 year age group are dealt with by local Adult Teams under appropriate CAMHS procedures. The Executive is addressing this issue on an on-going basis.
There are 67 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Teams and extra services for special service needs have also been introduced in recent years. The HSE is committed to addressing the service needs of the 16-18 age cohort by expanding the staffing and range of CAMHS team coverage, supported by prioritisation of funding from the additional mental health funding allocation in 2016, as outlined in the HSE Mental Health Operational Plan 2016.
Progress on this issue has been significant overall in recent years, demonstrated by the fact that the number of such admissions in 2008 was 247, reducing to 95 last year. This is despite a background of increasing demands on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services generally. There are a number of reasons why such admissions are made. These include distance from a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services facility, timing of admissions, potential medical issues, potential substance misuse, family concerns and the overall safety of the young person, their family and other service users. The HSE monitors this situation closely with a view to limiting inappropriate admissions as much as possible.