Cells used to hold mentally ill children

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) came across 41 instances in the South West region over a 12-month period up to March 2013 where police cells were used as the designated “place of safety” for children aged 17 and under who were believed to be experiencing a severe mental health episode.

The CQC said the practice was “unacceptable”, a view echoed by mental health and penal reform campaigners.

The CQC found that police cells were being used as the “default place of safety” for holding children and young people because three hospitals in the region were refusing to admit adolescents on the grounds that they didn’t have age-appropriate accommodation.

No details of the names or locations of the three South West hospitals have been published or which police cells were used.

The cases came to light as part of the commission’s monitoring work into the use of the act, a report on which was published yesterday. It was a follow up to its 2009/10 report, which also highlighted concerns about the use of cells as places of safety for children and young people in the region.

The latest report states: “In a meeting in March 2013, police told us practice had not changed and 41 young people had been detained in police cells over the previous year, the youngest of whom was 11.

“Even if hospital managers are correct to consider their place of safety not to be age-appropriate for this group, the code of practice allows the need for safe accommodation to take precedence in the short term.”

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “I do not see any reason for police to take into custody a child who they believe has mental health problems. Rather than taking a child to a cell, why don’t they take them home?

“It is inappropriate for police to be taking children into custody under the Mental Health Act. A police cell is not a place of safety for a child.”

Sarah Brennan, chief executive of YoungMinds, called the case "shocking".