17^th September 2003

Dr. Kate Ganter
Chairman
Irish College of Psychiatrists
121 St. Stephen’s Green
Dublin 2

Re:      Second Report of the Working Group on Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Services (June 2003)

Dear Kate

Thank you for your letter dated 19^th August 2003 in which you requested the Forensic Section to comment on the above document.  We had an opportunity to discuss this document at the Forensic Section meeting on the 12^th September 2003. 

We are concerned that this report fails to recognise the need for specialist services such as Forensic Child Psychiatry or Child Psychiatrists with a special interest in Learning Disability.  We are of the view that the development of such specialist services is of considerable importance and goes unrecognised as a service need for 16-18 year olds.  Within the Forensic Services we have had a number of requests for assessment of this age group by the Children’s Court.  There is at least one case in the last 6 months in which the Court recommended that a severely disturbed adolescent be taken from custody in St. Patrick’s Institution and placed in a secure child psychiatric unit in the UK.  The consensus among the Forensic Section is that failing to develop such specialist services within the Republic of Ireland propagates the continued dependency on out of State placements.  Such placements are extremely expensive on the Health Board and are a drain on resources which could otherwise be used to develop our own National Specialist Service. 

In summary, the Forensic Section is of the view that the second report of the Working Group on Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services emphasises the need for an interim solution without taking a more longer term strategic view on services that are required for the 16-18 year old group. 

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Damian Mohan
Chair
Forensic Section