Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mental health assessment tools are clinically effective for adults living with cerebral palsy.

No specific assessment has been made. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline ‘Cerebral palsy in adults’, published in January 2019, and quality standard ‘Cerebral palsy in adults’, published in January 2020, set out best practice guidance for clinicians assessing and monitoring the mental health of adults living with cerebral palsy. They recommend that specialist multidisciplinary teams identify and address mental health problems alongside physical health problems at reviews, exploring with the patient (and their family and carers, if agreed) whether they have any concerns about their mood, irritability, behaviour, social interaction, sleep or general level of function. The guidance can be found at the following links:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG119

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs191