Autistic boy (16) transferred from adult psychiatric unit

After spending almost three years in a closed adult psychiatric unit, a 16-year-old Co Clare autistic boy has been admitted to a new unit designed to care for autistic children.

The Health Service Executive transferred the boy to the secure residential unit in the Limerick area after continuing lobbying from the boy's parents. The boy's presence in unit 5b of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick since September 2002 has come under sustained attack in successive reports by the Inspector of Mental Health Services, Dr Teresa Carey.

In the most recent report published last week, Dr Carey recommended that "an immediate plan should be formulated to address the inappropriate placement of the boy who has been in the unit for the past two years". Her predecessor, Dr Dermot Walsh, said it was "a matter of great concern to the inspectorate, the practice of accommodating young children in the unit".

Rehab Care is to operate the residential unit at a cost of €300,000 per annum to fund the boy's care. The unit is to have a staff of 10. A second autistic adolescent is to be admitted in September, bringing annual running costs to €600,000. The centre has a capacity for four children and construction work on a permanent unit is to begin within the next year at a cost of over €1million.

The Co Clare boy - then aged 13 - was first admitted to unit 5b in September 2002 after an incident at his home. Since then the boy has received personal nursing care and been sent by taxi daily to a special needs school in Co Clare, accompanied by a psychiatric nurse. The boy has been transferred to the new unit in recent days and the boy's father said yesterday: "Our son was in unit 5b for far too long and was becoming somewhat institutionalised, so we are relieved and pleased that he has been transitioned to a new service.

"We were concerned that he would find the transition difficult but he is getting on very well." The Co Clare man added: "Unit 5b was a totally inappropriate placement for our son, but it worked much better than we could reasonably have expected, thanks to the tremendous efforts of the staff."

He said: "The situation here regarding the provision of services is chaotic. I think we were rather fortunate that events led to the development of a solution for our son."