Mr. Jim Ryan:

We have reduced the numbers of young people travelling to Britain for treatment significantly in the last several years. Eating disorders, for example, were one context where we would have had to transfer young people because we were not able to do a particular type of treatment here. This is no longer the case. It is very unusual for this to happen in the case of a young person, particularly those with eating disorders. Where we have young people with specific issues and needs, of which there are a relatively small number but every young person is important to us, it may be the case at times because of the size of the country that there may be issues which arise in a small number of cases for which we do not have a service here.

The UK has a much larger population and has more and different issues. We may, at times, need young people to leave the jurisdiction. That is done with careful planning and on the advice of the local mental health service and any other service that is involved. Other services are also involved most of the time.