James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the Mental Health Commission approved centre inspection reports that were published on 26 May 2016, in which 11 units across the country were assessed. As the Minister of State will know, every approved centre registered by the Mental Health Commission must, under law, be inspected at least once a year and during each inspection, the approved centre is assessed against all regulations, rules and codes of practice and section 4 of the Mental Health Act 2001.

These reports have highlighted a number of high-risk practices taking place in a number of psychiatric units throughout the country. For example, the acute psychiatric unit in Cavan General Hospital was found to have been non-compliant in its maintenance of records and had practised the use of physical restraint on high-risk patients. In St. Stephen's Hospital, risk management procedures were found to be at high risk while in the Aislinn Centre, staffing issues were found to be at high risk. In Letterkenny General Hospital, individual care plans and therapeutic services were again found to be high-risk issues while at Le Brun House-Whitethorn House in Clonskeagh, the premises and safety issues were found to be at high risk.

I want to focus, in particular, on the department of psychiatry in St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny. The premises was found to be of high risk and, extremely disconcertingly, the admission of children and the relevant code of practice was found to be a high-risk factor. The report states that "the approved centre was deemed non-compliant as there was no evidence of required Children First training or any other relevant training [of] staff [in this area]". The approved centre "was not suitable for the admission of children". The admission of children to adult psychiatric units is an ongoing issue. It is a wholly unacceptable practice and I ask the Minister of State what her proposals are in this regard and when it will stop. The previous Government promised to end this during its lifetime and that pledge was made in 2011 when it had come to power. It can only contribute to the mental health problems of these children by putting them into adult psychiatric units. While the staff will do their best, they cannot be given the full supports these children need, in particular early intervention supports, and many of these children are simply put on suicide watch.

The parents gave their consent to the children being admitted on most occasions to these units out of simple desperation and under a sense of duress as they feel they have no other options for their children who need psychiatric care. This is, of course, also a breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are many issues surrounding mental health - 24/7 care, in particular, is a key issue - but I ask the Minister of State to make this issue the No. 1 priority during her tenure to bring an end to this practice of putting children into wholly unsuitable and unsafe places, namely, adult psychiatric units.

See this speech in context