To ask Her Majesty’s Government why waiting times for children referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have increased; and what action they will take to reduce waiting times.
Answered on
24 October 2014
Information on waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services is not collected centrally. There is anecdotal evidence of increasing waiting times in some areas. We do not know whether or not this is due to an increase in referrals or the prevalence of mental health conditions but will be seeking further information by commissioning a survey into the prevalence of mental illness in children and young people.
NHS England and the Department have set up a Taskforce to look into the complex system of provision and commissioning of children and young people’s mental health services. The Taskforce is considering ways to improve access and create services that are more responsive to children’s needs. Additional funding this year is being invested into improving specialised, in-patient mental health services for children and young people. This will help to fund additional bed capacity and case management will also be improved.
Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 announced improvements that will be made to services for patients with emerging psychosis, including setting the first ever waiting time standard in mental health from April 2015. It also sets out a longer term ambition to extend waiting time standards across all mental health services by 2020.