Sir, - Padraig O'Morain's report on the inappropriate admission of children to hospital whilst awaiting placement elsewhere (The Irish Times, January 14th) is of course distressing. However, in one regard these children are lucky - at least they are receiving some form of proactive help from the Health Board, however inadequate. The situation with regard to other groups of children - particularly late adolescents who are psychologically or mentally unwell, not as a result of abuse - is far less happy. Health Boards are so overwhelmed with child protection work around abuse that often such children slip through the net or are placed on waiting lists for psychiatric assessment with a length of up to two years.
While the State has a plan to improve child psychiatric services I fear that these will concentrate on children with challenging behaviour. Meanwhile, in-patient units are so stretched that often children over 16 are not admitted or are referred to adult-in-patient units. This latter group, because of their proximity to adulthood, receive less attention from the media or public because they don't look vulnerable and are less engaging than younger children. Yet the country and its health services are merely storing up problems for the future in terms of suicide and premature death by failing to recognise and meet such need appropriately and quickly in this age group. - Yours, etc., John S.G. Wells,
Mental Health and Social Care Research Group, Waterford.