Continuing fall in numbers of young people admitted to adult wards for mental health treatment in Scotland

A new report from the Mental Welfare Commission shows a continuing decline in the number of young people aged under 18 admitted to non-specialist – usually adult – wards for mental health care in 2023-24.

The figures show there were 67 admissions involving 59 young people in 2023-24 compared to 79 admissions involving 66 young people the previous year.

The majority of admissions of young people to non-specialist wards were for a week or less, however 40% of young people remained on those wards for over a week and 12% remained for over five weeks.

Sixty-six percent of admissions of young people to non-specialist wards were for females – a lower difference in admissions between the two genders than last year, but still part of an overall increasing trend since 2015-16.

Where we have received additional information, we continue to find that the proportion of specialist medical staff either supporting or available to support these admissions remains high - 84% of the doctors in charge of care or the responsible medical officers were specialists in child psychiatry.

Dr Arun Chopra, medical director, Mental Welfare Commission, said:

“While overall numbers of admissions to non-specialist wards are much lower than a decade ago, and this is something we welcome, we are also aware that specialist provision in non-age-appropriate admissions remains patchy across the country.

“Sometimes it can be appropriate for a young person to be admitted to a non-specialist ward, but this should only happen in rare situations. For the vast majority of young people, being cared for in a unit designed for their age group, not for adults, should be the norm.

“We are aware of the work taking place regionally and locally to develop services in line with the national Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service specification. We expect that some of this work should have a direct impact on both inpatient demand and service provision for children and young people with mental health difficulties in the future.” 

The full report and shortened easy read version are available on the links below: