To ask if children under 18 are always admitted to inpatient units

[Happiestyearsofmylife]

If they are detained under s136 or harm themselves and end up in a&e? Just talking to a friend about it and I would imagine they always are due to safeguarding.

no, they aren't always.

They are very rarely admitted. If they (usually under 16’s) present with self harm behaviour or ideation out of hours they are admitted to the local paediatric ward to be assessed by camhs the following day. Most are discharged home

Absolutely not! Nowhere near enough inpatient beds. My 12 year old tried to kill themselves and was also self harming. She was deemed low risk and despite three separate referrals and an emerging eating disorder, four months later we are still waiting for an appointment with cahms.

No, absolutely not.

Nope they are assessed under the section 136 and then a decision is made as to whether or not they need to be managed in an inpatient environment or they can be supported in other ways in the community.
This also applies to adults that are detained by the police on S136.

No. Not in my experience. I know several young people who I imagine would really benefit from inpatient care who've never received it, and the one I know that has, had to go to a hospital hundreds of miles away.
Mental health provision is terrible in general, but that for children and young people is even worse. The closure of big psychiatric hospitals and the advent of "care in the community" years ago was a good thing in many ways but the baby definitely went out with the bath water.

No. My then 12 year-old tried to kill himself. Stabilised in a and e, then spent the rest of the day and night in hdu. Spent the next day on the general paeds ward. Assessed by camhs and then discharged home. Follow up telephone appointment a week later and then discharged from camhs as well.

My teen has took several overdoses and self harmed resulting in over night a&e visits. The last time she was in such a bad state she actually told them to admit her and that she wouldn’t be safe if she went home. I told them I was concerned she was going to kill herself. They still sent us home... not enough beds

Hell no, they are sent home with no help in my experience.
Dd was in care at the time too.
She got precisely no help.

No, of course not!

I'm amazed that anyone could be so unaware of how difficult it is for children to get mental health support.

No not at all. My son has attempted to take his own life numerous times. Last episode was taken to hospital with neck damage sent home next day with no follow up call, letter, appointment nothing. There is very little mental health care in the UK.

Imagiraffe
The unit where Dd was in care had to get her to hospital twice due to overdose.
Still no help.
Her arms and legs are a mess of scars.
Don't even get me started on CAHMS, fucking shits, Social Services can join them in hell.

So sad that so many seem to have the same experience and no support. It’s really shit.

I honestly thought it would be safeguarding issue to send children home.

Nope. I was hospitalised in A&E twice for attempt to take my life and once for an eating disorder. I was taken to look round an inpatient unit but was dismissed as I “didn’t talk enough”.

No shit.

IME they are very reluctant with it, usually it's just a CAHMS referral. My niece took a small painkiller overdose at 15 after a row with her parents. At A&E she said she hadn't wanted to kill herself but that it was a cry for help. She wasn't put in a unit but was kept in the children's ward for a week before being released into my care for a further week. This was due to a few allegations about her parents (which did happen but weren't massive, not sexual or physical abuse more about stuff that was said during the heat of an argument) and they wanted to do a safeguarding check. I don't think she'd have been admitted purely for the overdose as they were clueless as to what to do with her while she was in A&E and I was practically begged to take her by SS. She was offered CAHMS as follow up care after going back to her parents but she didn't go and things resolved themselves, she is now a happy 18 year old with a great relationship with her parents.

When I was 16 (back in 2006) I took an overdose and was taken to A&E by my parents. I spent the night on a children’s ward and was assessed my CAMHS in the morning. I was then admitted to an inpatient unit for 2 months. I am shocked at reading other peoples experiences as to how difficult it is to get help for your children!

No. It’s not the norm to be admitted to an inpatient unit, or even necessarily admitted to hospital, in these circumstances.

I just always thought it would be the norm and it be more rare for them to be daughter

No. Often they are admitted to a paeds ward overnight for physical checks, then they have a CAMHS assessment. Most times they are then discharged.

That’s awful

Rare, I think.

And while it would be good for some - it would be bad for others.

It would be great to have effective mental health care provision for kids but we are very far from that.

Problem is that those admitted are often so acutely unwell and given how high the threshold is it’s made wards more difficult to be on for patients. They shouldn’t have reduced beds and pretended that care in the community aka money saving was going to be done adequately. There isn’t enough capacity to properly meet the need.

I was in A&E last weekend with my DS who had had an accident in our garden. We arrived 5pm. Two young girls were also in the kids A&E with their Mums. Both around the 16 mark: one had what I'd say was a good relationship with her mum, the other not. Both had tried to harm themselves based on the conversations I could (unfortunately with no chance to avoid hearing) hear and both were being monitored until they were considered 'drug free and well' and only then could they call CAHMS with a warning of another 4 hour wait. The kids A&E is tiny and uncomfortable and thankfully my 10 year old boy was oblivious (and in pain poor thing) so paid no attention to the nurses or the conversations these girls were having with their mums about self harm. We went to a ward about midnight and they were both being told someone would arrive about 4 to see and chat to them. 😱