The final report of the independent CAMHS Review – 18 November 2008
A final report, launched at the Children’s Plan Conference, Central Hall, is now published and available on this site.
The report, which contains 20 recommendations for Government, sets out a clear vision for how we can all take responsibility for promoting children’s psychological well-being and mental health and how we can best achieve a step change in the quality and consistency of services at all levels.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson have welcomed the review and set out the Government’s initial response to each of the review’s 20 recommendations in a summary document that is also available on this site.
If you have any comments on the content of the report, please email your comments to camhs.review@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
The interim report – July 2008
An interim report, prepared by the Review’s Chairs for Ministers, was also published and available on this site.
This interim report highlighted the key themes that were emerging from the Review.
A version of the interim report has been prepared specifically for children and young people. This version is also available on this site.
Background
Next steps to improving the emotional well-being and mental health of children and young people
Following the announcement of the Review of CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services) in the Children's Plan in December 2007, Ed Balls and Alan Johnson invited Jo Davidson to lead this Review and Dr Bob Jezzard to act as Vice-Chair.
The Review represented an excellent opportunity to look at how well services are meeting the educational, health and social needs of children and young people at risk of, and experiencing, mental health problems. It also represented a chance to make recommendations for future progress.
The remit of the Review was broad and challenging, as the terms of reference show.
There was a strong early response, which emphasised that responsibility for psychological well-being and mental health is not confined to specialist child and adolescent mental health services. For the purposes of the Review, 'CAMHS' therefore includes all services that promote psychological well-being and mental health or which respond to and meet the mental health needs of all children and young people. This includes universal services, targeted services and specialist services.
With the help of the Expert Group, the Review team set out to find out what progress has been made in recent years in delivering services. They also aimed to work out what can be done to address current challenges and deliver better outcomes for children and young people with mental health problems.
Evidence was gathered from a wide range of sources, including:
-
a review of existing evidence
-
a national call for evidence
-
focus groups of children and young people and their parents/carers
-
a review of practice visits to local authorities/primary care trusts
-
stakeholder workshops to discuss initial findings and provisional recommendations
Between April and October 2008 the Review team spoke to key stakeholders - especially children and young people - collecting evidence and information, considering the key issues raised and developing recommendations.
The CAMHS Review is an independent review supported by officials from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health.
