Number of beds and places for residential and partial hospitalisation
of children and young people in PH and PDGH per region (01/01/2020)
Compared to the other regions, the beds for child psychiatry in the Walloon Region are primarily located in the PH. In the Flemish Region, there are clearly more places for day admissions in a PDGH than in a PH. As is the case for adults, there are generally fewer places for night hospitalisation compared to places for day hospitalisation.
Number of beds and places for children and young people per 100,000 inhabitants
| |
|
|
EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF BEDS AND PLACES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
To date, the number of beds for residential hospitalisation has increased, even though there are already more beds recognised per 1,000 inhabitants than described in the programming figures. The number of beds and places for day and night hospitalisation (code letters k1 and k2) is also increasing but, unlike residential beds (code letter K), there is still programming room for this in the Walloon and Flemish Regions.
Evolution of the total number of beds and places for children and young people in PH and PDGH (K, k1 and k2)
This trend may indicate an increased need for care for children and young people with mental health problems. An adaptation of the programming criteria would therefore not appear to be unjustified. Care for young people in particular merits special attention. Under the current regulations, young people from the age of 15 can be admitted to adult psychiatry. Yet this target group is so specific that a solution within juvenile psychiatry should be prioritised. Experts refer to a transition age that can last up to the age of 23. However, for the programming, only the number of children up to the age of 14 is taken into account.
Beds, reserved for children and young people with mental health problems, are recognised under the code letter K (residential hospitalisation), k1 (day hospitalisation) and k2 (night hospitalisation).
A total of 51 hospitals, including 26 general hospitals with a psychiatric department (PDGH) and 25 psychiatric hospitals (PH) have one of these K-services. Six of these PDGH and 8 of the PH do not have a psychiatric service for adults. In addition, a further three of these PDGH do not have a paediatric department for somatic care, while there is a department for children and young people with mental health problems.
The number of beds in K-services is usually more limited compared to the services for adults. Nevertheless, there are 2 PDGH and 2 PH with more than 50 beds reserved for children and young people (K, k1, k2).
In contrast to the services for adults, psychiatric services for children and young people within PDGH and PH have a better balance in terms of the distribution of bed capacity. In terms of geographical distribution, the concentration of K-services in the regions around Charleroi and Namur and in the province of Walloon Brabant is particularly striking, while the rest of the Walloon Region has a very limited offering.
Distribution of PH and PDGH in Belgium
indicating the number of beds for children and young people (01/01/2020)
On 30 March 2015, the Interministerial Conference on Public Health (IMC) approved the “Guide to a new mental healthcare policy for children and young people (GMCY)”. Almost immediately, 11 GMCY networks were set up, focusing on children and young people within their area of action.
The areas of action of these networks coincide with the territories of the provinces and the Brussels-Capital Region[1].
A GMCY network provides a comprehensive and integrated range of services for all children and young people aged 0-23 with mental and/or psychiatric problems. The aim is to respond to the needs of these children, young people and their context or environment as quickly and continuously as possible. Each network consists of all the relevant actors, services, institutions, care providers, etc. of the sectors involved working together and coordinating their policies.
To optimise the care, investments are made in developing various programmes financed by the federal government, namely crisis care, long-term care, intersectoral consultation and liaison (expertise and knowledge exchange) and dual diagnosis (a mental disability combined with psychological problems). More than 300 additional FTEs are made available to the networks[2].
Learn more about the several initiatives in the field of mental health care for children and youngsters: www.psy0-18.be
[1] Although in the German-speaking Community there is a specific pilot project for following-up of children and young people with mental and psychiatric problems financed by the federal government, this does not form a separate GMCY network but is part of REALiSM, the GMCY network of the Province of Liège.
[2] This funding is not done by freezing beds (see chapter ‘Initiatives regarding alternatives to hospitalisation’).