Teen left in ‘sparse’ conditions at care unit for six months

A deeply troubled teen was left isolated for almost six months, in “sparse and confined” conditions at one of the country’s three special care units for young people.

The disclosure emerged during a Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) inspection at the Ballydowd centre in West Dublin.

The teen’s suffered the ordeal as the centre’s managers, according to the HIQA report, altered their definition of the confinement to avoid national guidelines.

According to the 29-page report into the centre — used to house up to ten young people aged 12 to 17 with severe emotional and behavioural issues — the six-month isolation began almost immediately after the teen was admitted last May.

Despite national guidelines stressing “single separation” — effectively a form of solitary confinement — should be used for just hours, “the child remained separated from his/her peers until his/her discharge in December 2011”.

The decision to keep the teen in these conditions with just a TV and computer games to keep them occupied was for disciplinary reasons; the safety of staff, the teen and the centre’s other occupants; and on the recommendation of the facility’s clinical team.

However, the HIQA report, which was released yesterday and is based on unannounced inspections last November, said the decision was “unjustifiable” and “unacceptable”.

In particular, it noted that concerns should have been raised from as early as July when — in order to avoid national guidelines on the length of time such a teen should be confined — “all professionals working with this child” agreed to redefine the “single separation” situation.

This meant the way in which the teen was held was no longer recorded and ceased to be “time limited”.

“This was an unjustifiable redefinition of practice. The impact of this on the child was that his/her ongoing separation was no longer subject to national guidance on the use of single separation.

A similar case was also recorded with another teen at the centre last May.

While attempts were made to find both of these teenagers accommodation more suitable to their “therapeutic need”, the HIQA report said there were significant delays involved.

* All inspection reports are available at www.hiqa.ie

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