Dr. Amir Niazi:

This is the other side of it. Normally, people complain about having lack of access and that kind of thing. If somebody is in the acute unit and we detain involuntarily against their will, we must have solid reasons. There is very strict scrutiny by the Mental Health Commission on every admission to our approved centres. We have to answer back to a solicitor, an independent person and a consultant, who comes and challenges the team that is admitting somebody. There is a robust process when we admit somebody against their will. I cannot specify about this case but the team that is holding this child will have valid reasons to do so. It would be a multidisciplinary assessment and they probably would have made that decision on the basis of risk assessment.

On the other side, this is the reason sometimes our bar is a little bit high. If the needs of this 19-year-old or any child are better met in primary care or disability services, we do not want to admit them to mental health because instead of helping them, we might be going the other way around and not helping them. We might be admitting them in an environment that will be more stressful and all of that. If the Deputy provides me with more details, I will be happy to look into it.