Secure unit bid to help treat children
PLANS have been drawn up for Scotland’s first secure hospital for adolescents that would see teenagers and children treated for potentially dangerous psychiatric disorders.
A 12-bed forensic unit in Irvine is being planned by NHS Ayrshire and Arran, but it will be up to the Scottish Govern- ment to sign off on the £4.5 million funding required to construct it.
If approved, building of the facility would begin before the end of the decade.
It would accept referrals from anywhere in Scotland and offer rehabilitation to young patients with complex psychiatric illnesses, autism spectrum disorder or learning disabilities who are deemed too high-risk to be treated in the community. This includes patients with a history of physical violence, sexually harmful behaviour, fire-setting and self-harm.
At present, Scotland has no secure inpatient unit for children and teenagers who present high forensic risk. Some have been sent to England for treatment.
TEENAGERS and children with potentially dangerous psychiatric disorders will be treated at Scotland’s first secure hospital for adolescents under plans to build the longawaited facility in Ayrshire.
Proposals for a 12-bed forensic unit in Irvine have been drawn up by NHS Ayrshire and Arran, but it will be up to the Scottish Government to sign off on the £4.5 million funding required to construct it.
If approved, the facility would begin construction before the end of the decade. It would accept referrals from anywhere in Scotland and offer rehabilitation to young patients with complex psychiatric illnesses, autism spectrum disorder or learning disabilities who are deemed too high-risk to be treated in the community. This includes patients with a history of physical violence, sexually harmful behaviour, fire-setting and self-harm.
The National Secure Forensic Inpatient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) would accommodate patients of both sexes, up to the age of 19, and be located next to the new Woodland View adult acute mental health facility, which opened last year. Annual running costs are estimated at £3.89m.
Scotland has no secure inpatient unit for children and teenagers who present high forensic risk. Psychiatrists and mental health campaigners have long said this means seriously ill adolescents – some as young as 14 – are being locked up in unsuitable adult psychiatric wards, accommodated on paediatric wards where they pose a danger to other vulnerable patients, or sent miles from home to secure hospitals in England, jeopardising their chances of a full recovery.
One Scottish youngster with a serious learning disability has been in a secure adolescent unit in England since 2010.
Sophie Pilgrim, of the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition, said: “There is currently no dedicated forensic CAMHS inpatient provision in Scotland. Beds are spotpurchased when possible from the Newcastle nationally commissioned secure treatment unit. There are also a number of independent sector providers in England who offer secure impatient care for young people. Many of our children and young people with complex mental health needs are being referred from custodial settings and/or have high-risk behaviours.
“Given the lack of forensic provision north of the Border, they are having to travel outwith Scotland for treatment. This means it is often difficult for their family to visit them, in many cases leaving them feeling isolated and delaying recovery.”
Plans to develop a forensic CAMHS unit attached to a secure school were previously developed about 2006, but later abandoned.
A spokeswoman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran confirmed the board has endorsed its business case and was now finalising the bid for funding. She added: “The challenges and complexities of working with these young people require a level of expertise that is, unfortunately, not widely available in the UK. The aim is to treat these young people within Scotland and return them to their own community services following therapeutic intervention.
A Government spokeswoman said: “This is at a very early stage and the Scottish Government has yet to receive any formal proposals for consideration from NHS Ayrshire & Arran. However, we are supportive of this project in principle and look forward to working closely with the health board to develop their plans.”
Many children with complex needs are having to travel outwith Scotland