Galway to get 20-bed psychiatric facility for children and teens

Preparations are continuing for the construction of a new 20-bed in-patient psychiatric facility for children and adolescents in Galway.
The HSE is now looking for a company or companies to build the facility at Merlin Park Hospital in the city. The centre will include a children’s in-patient unit, an adolescent in-patient unit, a therapies unit and overnight accommodation for parents. Two buildings are to be constructed at the facility.

Last month, Irish Medical Times revealed that from the start of the year to the end of May, there were 99 children or adolescents admitted to adult psychiatric units in Ireland. Another 60 were admitted to child or adolescent units in the same time-rame. Since the Mental Health Commission began recording these figures in November 2006, there have been more than 300 instances of children or adolescents being admitted to adult psychiatric units.
At the beginning of 2008, the HSE told IMT that while there were two facilities providing a total of 12 child and adolescent in-patient beds in the country, this figure was due to increase to 30 by the autumn.
In addition, IMT reported that, as well as planning permission being granted for the aforementioned Galway facility, a proposal to create a further 20 such beds in Cork was also given such permission.
Hence the number of child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric beds in the country is due to increase nearly six fold, from 12 to 70.