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BALLS AND JOHNSON ANNOUNCE REVIEW OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
12 December 2007Review to be Chaired by Jo Davidson Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson today outlined their plans for a review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and called for more vigilance in spotting the distress signals in boys who may have underlying mental health problems. The review is aimed at ensuring that the educational and emotional needs of children and young people with mental health problems, or at risk of developing them, are being met.The external review of CAMHS will be led by Jo Davidson, Chief Officer at Gloucestershire County Council and current chair of the 0-7 Group of the Children’s Plan. She will draw on advice from experts in the field of child and adolescent mental health services.The Government knows that there are still gaps in the current CAMHS system and wants to see more early intervention in schools, as well as services working better together across the different boundaries to ensure that children and young people get the best support available regardless of the complexity of their needs. Around one in ten children and young people will experience behavioural, emotional and mental health problems at some point in their lives, with twice as many boys - aged 5 to 10 years - diagnosed with a mental health disorder compared to girls. Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls said: “We know that girls are better than boys at asking for help when they need it. That is why we are calling on professionals working with children to keep a close eye on boys in particular and spot when they are distressed. “But children with mental health problems deserve a better service than they are currently being given, which is why we are pleased to announce this high level review.“The review we are announcing today will look closely at how mainstream services, like schools and nurseries can play a more effective role in promoting the emotional health and wellbeing of our children – to prevent mental health problems before they arise.” Health Minister Alan Johnson said:"Having good mental health enables children, young people and adults to make the most of their opportunities in life. "However, we know that for a minority of children and young people, they are at increased risk of developing mental health problems than their peers, and that 10% of children and young people have clinically defined mental health problems."This review will build on the recent significant improvements in the delivering of child and adolescent mental health services as a result of increased funding in this area by looking at how we can effectively promote the emotional well being and mental health of all children and young people."Jo Davidson, Chair of the Review said: “We all want our children to have strong emotional health, so I’m delighted to be chairing this important joint review of CAMHS. The review will look at what is working well and will identify practical solutions to the current barriers in the delivery of integrated solutions for children and young people, who may have or are experiencing mental health problems. “Over the next few weeks we will define more precisely the review’s Terms of Reference. We will be asking children, young people, parents and practitioners to get involved by voicing their opinions about what works and how we can improve services." The review will be jointly sponsored by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health. It will:• take stock of progress to date and to identify how mainstream and universal services could play a more effective role in promoting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children, young people and their families – including looking at the training of staff; • identify practical solutions to current barriers in the delivery of integrated care pathways at a service delivery and strategic level; • advise on key gaps in the delivery strategy to support the CAMHS elements of the Child Health and Wellbeing PSA; • develop priority actions for national, regional and local stakeholders in delivering the proposed vision of emotional health and wellbeing; and • clarify the performance management arrangements necessary to support delivery including the development of robust local and national outcome indicators. Over the past four years the Government has invested an addition £400m in CAMHS resulting in increased capacity, shorter waiting times, and more children and young people benefiting from specialist CAMHS. However, while money has been invested, and there have been improvements, challenges remain. Some specialist services are not meeting the needs of our most vulnerable children, with complex and challenging needs. In 2005 only 23 per cent of local authorities reported that they were working effectively with education, social care and health to meet the needs of this group. Ed Balls and Alan Johnson also reiterated their commitment to increase the number of specialist CAMHS beds for those with greatest need, and eliminate the inappropriate use of adult psychiatric wards for under 16-year olds by November 2008.The announcement was marked by Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan with a visit to the Marlborough Family Education Centre in London, a leading example of schools and mental health services working together.Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan said: “In today’s complex society the family unit is changing, and an increasing number of children and young people are finding it difficult to cope. “Early detection and intervention in schools and nurseries is key to enabling children and young people to learn, to achieve and to fulfil their potential. Through this review we hope to ensure that the correct help and support is available for everyone who needs it so that no child slips through the net.” The Government is already rolling out the social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) programme to all primary and secondary schools. There is additional funding for schools and Local Authorities to develop school based and ‘close to school’ support for those children most at risk of developing emotional, behavioural and mental health problems.A final report of findings will be submitted to the Secretaries of State for Health and for Children, Schools and Families by summer 2008.Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. Biography for Jo Davidson, Chair of the Review: Jo Davidson, has been a Chief Officer at Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) since 2002. She is currently chair of the DCSF’s 0-7 Group for the Children’s Plan. Jo initially joined the GCC as Director of Education, from April 2005, Jo has been the County’s first Group Director of Children and Young People’s Services. Jo’s role also involves leading the development of the combined forces of 52,000 people in Gloucestershire in the private, voluntary, community and public sectors in improving outcomes for all 0-19 year olds. There has been year on year improvement in outcomes over the past 5 years; Gloucestershire is now in the top 7 Councils out of 150 nationally.2. In September 2004, a new strategic direction was mapped out for CAMHS through Standard 9 of the children’s National Service Framework. This articulated the vision for CAMHS as being: • an improvement in the mental health of all children and young people• that multi-agency services, working in partnership, promote the mental health of all children and young people, and provide early intervention, and also meet the needs of children and young people with established or complex problems• that all children, young people and their families have access to mental health care based upon the best available evidence and provided by staff with an appropriate range of skills and competenciesThe implementation of this vision has been supported by additional resources. Grant funding to Local Authorities for CAMHS has increased from £10m in 1999-2000 to £91m in 2007-08. Funding for PCTS for CAMHS also increased during this period, from £10m in 1999-2000 to £50m in 2005-06. After 2005-06 this funding was subsumed as part of Strategic Health Authority (SHA) baseline budgets.The impact of this funding, coupled with the introduction of a series of proxy measures (March 2005) and a focused support/challenge role delivered by the National CAMHS Support Services (NCSS) field force has led to real improvements in the delivery and quality of CAMHS services on the ground. 3. Developments to date: • More multi-agency teams (from 732 tier 2-4 teams in 2002 to 1,066 teams in 2006-07); • More mental health practitioners on the ground working with vulnerable children and young people (from 7,761 whole-time equivalent staff in 2003 to 9,790); • Reductions in waiting times (from 28,880 children and young people in 2003 to 26,199 in 2005); • An additional £60 million to support schools to work with mental health practitioners and others to improve the emotional wellbeing of pupils;• increased numbers of children being seen by CAMHS, (from 86,521 accessing tier 2-4 in 2003 to 169,029 in 2006).4. This review will be led jointly by DCSF and DoH and will report to the two Secretaries of State. Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
Press Notice 2007/0236
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