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Written Question
Mental Health Services: Children
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that parents with children with mental health challenges receive the support required.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We would expect children and young people’s mental health services, in the care of children and young people with mental health challenges, to routinely involve parents, carers, and families as appropriate.

In September 2020, we launched a campaign through the Every Mind Matters website to raise awareness of the guidance and tools available to parents and carers, to help in supporting children and young people’s mental wellbeing. Specific content directed at parents is available at the following link:

https://www.mindedforfamilies.org.uk/

Information for parents and carers of children in contact with children and young people’s mental health services is also available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/mental-health-support/supporting-a-child-or-young-person/


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Children and Young People
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of crisis referrals to child and adolescent mental health services on the standard of therapeutic provision for under-18s in south Cumbria.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

There are no plans to make such an assessment at national level. We would expect National Health Service providers and commissioners to provide services in line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The standard of therapeutic provision for children under 18 years old in South Cumbria is a matter for the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.


Written Question
Hospitals: Admissions
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of young people who were admitted to a paediatric ward in mental health crisis in each month in 2023.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

This information is not held in the format requested.


Written Question
Autism: Health Services
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support young people with autism in South Cumbria.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including services to support autistic young people, in line with relevant clinical guidelines.

NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has several commissioned services in place currently to support autistic young people and their families and has invested over £3.7 million in 2023/24 in such services. This includes an online advice and guidance service, Autism Unlocked, which has been developed for autistic people and their families, including children and young people and their parents and carers. For children on the assessment pathway for autism, the ICB has also commissioned Pathway Navigators who contact families on the assessment pathway to provide ongoing support, signposting, and resources to families.

In addition, a key worker service has been available in Lancashire and South Cumbria since 2021 to support autistic children and young people or those with a learning disability at risk of mental health hospital admission, or those in in-patient settings.

Nationally, we are taking steps to improve autism services. NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services on 5 April 2023. These documents are intended to help the National Health Service improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for adults and children who are going through an autism assessment. They also set out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. To meet the recommendations in this guidance, NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB is currently undertaking a review of existing provision to inform the development of an integrated neurodevelopmental pathway, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In 2023/24, £4.2 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services, pre and post diagnostic support, and the continuation of the ‘Autism in Schools’ programme. Autism in Schools is a national project, which is being implemented locally by NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, which aims to ensure schools offer environments in which autistic students can thrive, supporting good mental health and promoting a sense of belonging.


Written Question
Accident and Emergency Departments: Mental Health
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of young people who presented at an ambulance and emergency department in mental health crisis in each month in 2023.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested is not collected centrally.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Cumbria
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by South Cumbria CAMHS in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Information relating to children and young people was not collected prior to 2016/17. The following table shows the number of referrals received in Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness local authorities between 2016/17 and 2022/23, the latest period for which data is available:

Financial year

Local authority

Number of referrals received in year for patients aged between zero and 17 years old at time of referral

Number of referrals received in year where patients aged between zero and 17 years old at time of referral and who have received at least one care contact any time after referral

2016/17

Cumberland

250

110

2017/18

Cumberland

975

570

2018/19

Cumberland

4,030

2,520

2019/20

Cumberland

5,555

2,810

2020/21

Cumberland

5,025

2,670

2021/22

Cumberland

6,280

3,145

2022/23

Cumberland

6,140

2,795

2016/17

Westmorland and Furness

325

165

2017/18

Westmorland and Furness

1,060

670

2018/19

Westmorland and Furness

3,590

2,265

2019/20

Westmorland and Furness

4,665

2,305

2020/21

Westmorland and Furness

3,840

1,955

2021/22

Westmorland and Furness

4,370

2,270

2022/23

Westmorland and Furness

3,645

1,870

Source: Mental Health Services Dataset, NHS England

Notes:

  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
  2. For the area of South Cumbria, the former Cumbrian councils have been mapped to their new unitary local authorities with referrals based on the patient’s postcode. Cumberland Council comprises of the area formerly covered by Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland districts; and Westmorland and Furness Council comprises of the area formerly covered by Barrow-in-Furness, Eden and South Lakeland districts.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Cumbria
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what crisis assessment and intervention services are available to young people under the age of 18 in South Cumbria.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) has commissioned crisis and intensive support services for children and young people; this is known as the Responsive And Intensive Support Team (RAIST).

The teams work seven days a week from 8am to 8pm. The team providing support in South Cumbria has registered nurses and social workers who provide a full assessment of need and work with children and young people to develop a safety plan, risk assessment and care plan. Once this has been completed, a two-week pathway of care will be identified. The children and young people will have contact daily with the community mental health practitioners to develop new skills to support the prevention of further crisis.

Since the RAIST has been established with the north of the trust, there has been a reduction in the need for attendance to the emergency departments and admission to the paediatric wards.

For those with severe needs or in crisis, urgent mental health helplines operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are already available in all areas of the country. They are staffed by trained mental health professionals who can provide assessment and referrals to appropriate services. These crisis lines currently take around 200,000 calls a month and received five million calls between May 2020 and April 2022.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Simon Fell (Conservative - Barrow and Furness)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of young people who were referred to child and adolescent mental health services waited (a) two weeks, (b) one month, (c) three months, (d) six months and (e) longer than six months for an assessment in the last 12 months.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The following table shows the number of referrals of children and young people aged between zero and 17 years old in England in 2021/22, as well as the time waiting between referral and their second contact for the timescales available:

Number waiting between zero and four weeks

137,943

Percentage waiting between zero and four weeks

18.80%

Number of waiting between four and 12 weeks

62,037

Percentage waiting between four and 12 weeks

8.50%

Number waiting over 12 weeks

38,855

Percentage waiting over 12 weeks

5.30%

Total number

733,756

Source: NHS England

Note: These statistics are classified as experimental and should be used with caution.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Children and Young People
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure coordination of children and young people's mental health support across different agencies.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Department works closely with a number of agencies both inside and outside of the Government to support the mental health of children and young people. This includes working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to deliver and evaluate innovative, community-based mental health and wellbeing support for young people. This includes 10 early support hubs across England, backed by £4.92 million of new funding until the end of 2024/25. These hubs are open to those aged between 11 and 25 years old, who may not meet the threshold to receive National Health Service support.

Our flagship joint programme is the children and young people green paper programme, working across the Department for Education and NHS England. We are ahead of target on delivery of mental health support in schools and colleges and the Department for Education has committed to offer all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, with over 14,000 schools and colleges having taken up the offer so far.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Children and Young People
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of developing a bespoke strategy for children's and young people's mental health.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Following on from our mental health and wellbeing call for evidence in 2022, we decided to develop a Major Conditions Strategy. This strategy will be joined up rather than standalone and will ensure that mental health is considered alongside other physical health conditions, meaning the interactions between the two are reflected in any resulting commitments.

The Major Conditions Strategy’s case for change and strategic framework was published on 21 August 2023 and sets out a number of commitments to drive further improvements to support better mental health. The final Major Conditions Strategy is expected to be published later in 2024.