Judge highlights secure bed shortage for young in Wales

A judge made court proceedings public to highlight the problems

A teenage boy must remain in a children's mental health facility due to a shortage of appropriate accommodation, a judge has said.

The traumatised and violent 14-year-old does not need mental health care and is taking up a space required by others.

However a lack of secure accommodation has left authorities no alternative.

Judge Isabel Parry took the rare step of opening the normally private proceedings at a family court in Cardiff to highlight the difficulties.

The boy - who cannot be named - has attacked staff, caused criminal damage and has been sedated to calm his violent outbursts at the unit.

He was described by a consultant psychiatrist as "like an injured animal - very hurt and very much in pain and doesn't understand".

He was taken into care in August 2019 by Newport council's social services after he had knocked on someone's door and asked them to take him in, claiming his father had physically abused him.

While in foster care, the boy's behaviour deteriorated and he was moved to a residential placement.

However his violent outbursts and self-harming continued and he twice tried to kill himself.

He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in December and taken to a mental health unit in south Wales for adolescents.

However his behaviour requires excessive use of staff to restrain him, even from professionals accustomed to these situations, the court heard.

He has escaped, and injured himself and others.

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But while he has behavioural issues, an assessment concluded he does not suffer from an acute mental health disorder which would warrant him remaining at the hospital.

In effect, the court heard, he is now "bed blocking" while the hospital has eight other children waiting for a place.

The courts, NHS and Newport council have been left trying to find a solution.

'Urgent'

Guidance from Welsh Government was simply that it is the responsibility of the local authority to find accommodation.

The issue will come as no surprise to the government which said a children's residential care group was "urgently considering" how to increase capacity in November 2018.

Newport council is working to find a temporary solution - by adapting a property to make it secure - before a place at a children's home becomes available in the next two months.

A second property has been ruled out as being too small - so the search continues.

But this "bridging" placement would be unregulated and unregistered with Social Care Wales, making it "unlawful".

Wales has only one secure accommodation for young people, in Neath, but that is not exclusively for Welsh youngsters.

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