Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the tiers system in CAMHS; and if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of alternative therapeutic approaches for children who have experienced trauma.

‘Future in Mind’, published by the Department and NHS England in 2015, recommended that children and young people’s mental health services move away from the concept of tiers, in which the system is defined by the services that provide the care, towards models that are defined by how they address patients’ needs.

NHS England has worked with Health Education England to deliver the children and young people’s improving access to psychological therapies programme. It trains new and existing staff working in children and young people’s mental health services and includes evidence-based trauma informed practice.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has made recommendations on the psychological interventions for the prevention and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and young people in its guideline on post-traumatic stress disorder.