Perthshire Advertiser

Fears for children placed in adult psychiatri­c wards The practice in Tayside deemed as‘inappropri­ate’

- KATHRYN ANDERSON

Concerns have been raised over children being treated in adult mental health acute wards.

The practice in Tayside has been described as “inappropri­ate”.

The issue was raised at a Perth and Kinross Integratio­n Joint Board meeting on September 29 in response to an update on mental health services.

Board member Pat Kilpatrick questioned the “inappropri­ate admission of children under the age of 18 to adult psychiatri­c beds in Tayside”.

She told the board: “I do know there are a lot of young people who are inappropri­ately admitted to adult beds and it’s not the right environmen­t for them.

“All the published evidence in the UK demonstrat­es there is a better way to look after these young people - many of whom have very complex needs and many of whom go on to be users of adult services.

“If they don’t get a good experience as an adolescent it’s not a good starting-off point in terms of our care for them.”

The Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnershi­p ( HSCP) chief officer Gordon Paterson said he would have thought this would be “fairly exceptiona­l” and said there was an adolescent inpatient unit (Dudhope Young People’s Inpatient Unit in Dundee).

Mr Paterson said young people should not be accommodat­ed in inpatient psychiatri­c wards along with adults and even one was “one too many”.

Head of health Evelyn Devine told the board there had been some announceme­nts from Scottish Government around regional units being developed across the country.

She said: “I think there is a recognitio­n that we have to do something differentl­y.”

The 12- bedded hospital at

Dudhope Terrace in Dundee admits young people from Grampian, Highland (excluding Argyll and Bute), Orkney and Shetland as well as Tayside.

Mrs Devine told board members: “We are in a position across Tayside - and across Scotland - where there are no psychiatri­c beds.”

She agreed with the point made by Ms Kilpatrick and said: “It would feel they are misplaced in an adult ward - absolutely, 100 per cent.

“I think there’s a lot of work going on at Tayside to try and reduce the delays in the wards to free up capacity.

“I do believe there’s a national drive to do something different around that.”

Depute director of education and children’s services Jacquie Pepper told the board a national inpatient facility was due to open in North Ayrshire. She said this would be for young people who need to be detained under mental health legislatio­n.

Ms Pepper confirmed there was an issue of young people being placed in adult psychiatri­c wards.

She said: “I am aware of a number - a very small number so it’s an occasional event rather than a frequent event from a Perth and Kinross perspectiv­e - of young people who have had a period of admission within an adult mental health acute ward within Carseview.

“That does happen on a very odd occasion and I am aware of that so that is a difficulty for us.

“But I think in terms of the strategy which is very much about ensuring there is earlier interventi­on to prevent that level of crisis emerging is the strategy that we are building and taking forward across all our services and a range of third sector services as well in terms of young people.”

The Scottish Government guidance states that “whenever possible, it would be best practice to admit a child to a unit specialisi­ng in child and adolescent psychiatry” and “a young patient should only be admitted to an adult ward in exceptiona­l circumstan­ces, for example, where no bed in a child or adolescent ward is immediatel­y or directly available”.

 ?? ?? Unit Children have been placed in adult wards at Carseview
Unit Children have been placed in adult wards at Carseview

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