The Mental Health Commission has found that there is a rise in the number of children being sent to adult mental health facilities.
According to a report carried out by the Commission, 44 children were sent to adult services between January and May this year.
The commission has called the increase “unacceptable,” and says that it is most likely due to a personnel shortage.
In 2016, 36 children were sent to adult services during the same period. There had also been a 30 percent decrease in these admissions from the previous year.
The report came after concerns that a teenager had allegedly spent the night on a chair after being sent to the Adult Acute Mental Health Unit in Waterford. There were no beds available for the 16-year-old.
The report can be accessed in full here.
