A new report today raises concerns that many children in Scotland have been admitted to adult psychiatric wards, despite laws requiring NHS boards to provide specialist services for under-18s.

In the past year there were 142 admissions of individuals under the age of 18 to non-specialist psychiatric services. 134 of these admissions were to adult psychiatric wards, according to the annual report from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.

Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People, Kathleen Marshall, has now called for more resources to be made available to properly care for vulnerable young people with serious psychiatric needs.

"It's vital that young people with mental welfare care needs can access treatment and services that are appropriate," Marshall said in response to the report.

"This means reducing admissions to adult wards and providing more specialist support for those who are admitted to adult wards.

"It also means making sure that the often troubled young people in children's secure units are able to access mental heath assessment and adolescent facilities where that would be more appropriate and helpful for them."

The new figures come shortly after a UN report on children's welfare said the UK needed to do more to provide age-appropriate mental health services for young people.

"The recent UN report on children's rights noted that while one in ten children in the UK have a mental health problem, only around a quarter of them have access to the required treatment and care.

"If we are to help what must be one of the most vulnerable groups in society, prevent further illness and tackle social exclusion, there must be a firm commitment to allocate the necessary resources," Marshall concluded.