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 improve coordination between children’s and adult mental health services to support young people transitioning between them.

A key priority for children and young people’s (CYP) mental health services is ensuring continuity of care and a smooth transition for patients moving to adult services.

NHS England released funding in 2022/23 to improve, transform and focus improvement on the young adult mental health pathway. As of 2024/25, the majority of integrated care boards report that they have improved the way that they manage transitions to adult services, including removing rigid age-based thresholds for transition and ensuring that there are strong working relationships and embedded shared responsibility between CYP and adults’ mental health services.

NHS England is developing a personalised care framework which sets out the core principles of care that people should expect when accessing mental health services. This will be applicable across CYP and adults’ services to ensure that transitions are smooth and care is consistent across settings.