Young people must not be ignored in proposed changes to Scotland's mental health laws, according to children's organisations.

Support groups want children's care to be made a priority in the Mental Health (Scotland) Bill, which was debated in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday.

The bill was launched in September and promised to be the most radical reform of the service for 40 years.

A national programme was published in magazine format outlining the Scottish Executive's intended action covering everyone from toddlers to pensioners.

The issue for us is the need to concentrate more on the specific needs of children and young people Anne Houston Childline Scotland

The legislation would set up procedures for compulsory care and treatment and a new mental health tribunal where lawyers, doctors and other experts would make decisions about compulsory care.

Currently at any one time 125,000 young people in Scotland will have a mental health problem severe enough to interfere with their daily lives.

But Childline Scotland, NCH Scotland and Children in Scotland believe that current mental health practices are failing children.

Staff warning

They said it was unacceptable that seven out of 10 vulnerable young people under the age of 18 were admitted to adult wards.

Anne Houston, director of Childline Scotland, said the executive must plug the gap in services available to young people.

She told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that the executive should allocate resources to overhaul the services available to young people.

"At the moment there are only 35 in-patient beds for children in Scotland and the estimate is that we probably need between 80 and 100," Ms Houston added.

'Significant expansion'

Due to the shortfall young people were housed in adult wards which could prove a harrowing experience for them, she added.

"We welcome a great deal of what is in the bill, but the issues for us as children's organisations is the need to concentrate more on the specific needs of children and young people."

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland has warned the executive to guard against staff shortages when considering the legislation.

Dr Jim Dyer, the commission's director, said there would have to be "a significant expansion" of mental welfare officers and consultants to ensure the bill worked properly.