Under-16s 'treated on adult wards'
Updated on 25 September 2008
Children under 16 are still being treated on adult psychiatric wards despite a Government pledge to eliminate the practice, the Tories have said.
A snapshot from 52 out of 72 mental health trusts across England revealed that 26 under-16s were treated on such wards in 2007/08.
A total of 390 16 and 17-year-olds were treated on adult wards, the figures showed.
The Conservatives said if the figures were scaled up across England, it is estimated that 750 children are still being treated on adult wards for mental health problems.
A report from the Mental Health Commission earlier this year said that between April 2003 and October 2006, at least 1,308 patients under 18 were detained on adult wards, including two aged 12.
In November 2006, Health Minister Ivan Lewis pledged that no child under 16 would be treated on an adult psychiatric ward within two years.
The figures, obtained by the Conservatives under the Freedom of Information Act, also showed there were 435 sexual assaults on mental health patients in England last year, of which 15 were rapes.
The party said an overall picture suggested that assaults on children were up 13%, sexual assaults were up 11% and rapes were up 18%.
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "It's shameful that mental health hospitals have become places where patients live in fear for their safety.
"Labour have broken their promises to improve standards, particularly on accommodation."
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