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Children in mental health hospitals at risk of serious rights violations, charity warns

2 mins read Mental health
Children being treated in hospital for mental health problems are at risk of serious rights violations with "staggering numbers" still being placed on adult wards and subject to harmful restraint, seclusion and segregation, a study has found.
Kamena Dorling: It is time for the government to take real action to ensure that children receive the best possible care and support
Kamena Dorling: It is time for the government to take real action to ensure that children receive the best possible care and support

A report by children's rights charity Article 39, part of a three-year project funded by BBC Children in Need, found that while many children are in hospital as "informal patients" and there by "consent", they are often kept locked up, or do not understand their rights and fear being "sectioned" if they try to leave.

Legal Update: Long-term segregation on mental health wards

Do no harm? Use of restraint in mental health inpatient care

Article 39 said children held on an informal basis, making up around two thirds of the 3,500 children placed in mental health inpatient care each year, are denied the legal safeguards provided to children who are formally detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 – such as the right to an independent mental health advocate and to be given information about their rights.

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