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Patients transferred from a regional adolescent unit to adult wards within the same hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

D. J. Rothery
Affiliation:
Irwin Unit For Young People, Hollymoor Hospital, Tessall Lane, Northfield, Birmingham B31 5EX
R. Parmar
Affiliation:
Irwin Unit For Young People, Hollymoor Hospital, Tessall Lane, Northfield, Birmingham B31 5EX
M. Broughton
Affiliation:
Irwin Unit For Young People, Hollymoor Hospital, Tessall Lane, Northfield, Birmingham B31 5EX
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In 1986 the report Bridges over Troubled Waters (NHS Health Advisory Service, 1986) stated quite categorically that patients under the age of 16 should not be treated in adult psychiatric wards. The National Association for Children in Hospital has also worked tirelessly against children and adolescents being treated in adult hospital wards, although this has mainly concerned the paediatric, medical and surgical fields. However few guidelines were laid down about the function of psychiatric units for children and adolescents when the majority of such units were first being established in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Indeed in the circular from the Ministry of Health (1964) about the need for such units it was stated that some adolescent patients could suitably be treated in adult wards. However no age limits were specified in the circular. There have been no specific guidelines issued subsequently by the Department of Health about the use of adult psychiatric beds for adolescents.

Type
Audit in practice
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 1993

References

Health Advisory Service (1986) Bridges Over Troubled Waters. A Report from the NHS Health Advisory Service on Services for Disturbed Adolescents. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health (1964) In-patient Accommodation for Mentally Ill and Seriously Maladjusted Children and Adolescents. HM (64) 4. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
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