Psychiatrists are warning that trusts are increasingly seeing intensiveservices for the most ill children as expendable, leading to a sharpdrop in the number of beds. The latest figures, drawn from a full countof beds for younger children by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, shownumbers have fallen by a third since 1999 leaving the NHS with just 86general psychiatric beds.
Of the 14 units in England that work with children, four units in southwest London, Sheffield, Cumbria and Lancashire, and Sussex have beenclosed down.
Another unit in Lincolnshire, which initially catered for eight- to16-year-olds, now only provides beds for 11- to 16-year-olds.
Campaigners have seized on the closures as evidence that trusts viewcutting beds for younger children as an easy option.
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