A CLAIM has been made that 16 children were admitted for treatment to an adult mental health unit in Kerry General Hospital during an 18-month time frame.
There is a serious lack of beds and age-appropriate facilities within the mental health system in Kerry and the children have no where else to go.
Figures released for the period between February 2014 and last September have been described as a shocking and damning indictment of government policies.
Kerry TD Martin Ferris said it is completely unacceptable that children have been admitted to adult units due to under-funding and under-resourcing of a much neglected branch of the health service.
“A properly funded mental health care service with an appropriate focus on the needs of younger people would go some way to ensuring that these things do not happen. Unfortunately, this view is the polar opposite to what Fine Gael and the Labour Party have been implementing while in government,” the Sinn Fein TD stated.
He said the government TDs in Kerry have nothing to be proud of.
“They have stood over and endorsed the approach taken by the government. They should hang their heads in shame,” Deputy Ferris stated.
