Facilities needed for children’s mental health

Youngsters under 18 are housed at St Ann’s Hospital, an adult psychiatric facility, owing to a lack of mental-health facilities for minors, Ministry of Health child psychologist Dr Jacqueline Sharpe yesterday told Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Social Services and Public Administration.

They are initially assessed there over two weeks and then sent to other facilities.

She said, “There are no dedicated in-patient psychiatric facilities for children under the age of 18. Yes, obviously we need in-patient services for children and adolescents who have serious mental health issues that need to be addressed.”

Youngsters under 16 are sent to the Paediatric Hospital, Mt Hope or San Fernando General Hospital.

“If they are over 16 you try to make arrangements for them to be admitted to the Psychiatric Unit at Mt Hope Hospital run by Prof (Gerard) Hutchinson’s team, or the children may be negotiated to go to St Ann’s Hospital, usually to the LSE Lewis Unit for acute care.”

TT Association of Psychiatrists (TTAP) president Dr Margaret Nakhid-Chatoor said children need their own treatment facilities.

JSC chairman Dhanayshar Mahabir got Ministry of Health permanent secretary Richard Madray and Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram to promise four beds for child mental health at the Paediatric Ward at Mt Hope Hospital by June 2018.

St Ann’s senior clinical psychologist Dr Krishna Maharaj said that up to a year ago children were seen at the hospital’s forensic unit. “A decision was taken by the psychiatrist in charge then, Dr Vince, that he would not be accepting any more children referred to his unit by the court.

“Prior to that year, children coming out of the court system to St Ann’s Hospital were free to mingle with adult psychiatric patients. So at this time we don’t have children coming into the Forensic Unit.”

Mahabir remarked, “The forensic unit at St Ann’s is the one with all the barbed wire and so on? That’s where you house the criminally insane? And you put children in there?”

Maharaj replied, “Let’s not describe them as criminally insane.

The children would be assessed there, at times, but would go to wards elsewhere.”

While the Children Act says childhood is up to age 18, Mahabir was disturbed that youngsters from 16 to 18 had been housed at St Ann’s with mentally-ill adults. “That’s something we need to address.”

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