Dr. Brendan Doody:

Ongoing contact with parents is hugely important to any young person who is admitted into an approved centre. As soon as there were restrictions with regard to visiting we were very keen to put in place a mechanism by which young people could keep in regular contact with their parents using technology such as Skype. Clearly that does not replace actual physical visits. At the same time we had to be mindful of the restrictions the units needed to impose to limit the spread of Covid-19 and other public health considerations. In recent weeks the inpatient units have been able to reintroduce visits by family members and parents on a limited basis. That has been rolled out in child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, inpatient units throughout the country.