Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the facilities available for critical adolescent mental health cases.

If children and young people do need to be admitted to inpatient services for mental health treatment, they should be accommodated in an environment that is suitable for their age. In some instances, clinically urgent situations will sometimes necessitate children and young people being placed on wards that are not specialised for children and young people’s mental health services, or away from their home and family. In these situations, patient safety, the least restrictive environment, and clinical need remains paramount.

The model of provision of National Health Service funded inpatient treatment for children and young people is being re-designed to support the move to community-based provision, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective, and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.

This transition is being supported by the introduction of provider collaboratives to support place-based commissioning and to develop local services that meet the needs of their communities. Options may include increased day provision, and the new model will see a change to how inpatient environments are best utilised.