Child And Adolescent Mental Health Services

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) strategy ‘Everybody’s Business’ was issued in September 2001 to set out a broad and cross-sectoral concept for CAMHS. It established a strategic vision for CAMHS in Wales.  It provides the Welsh Assembly Government’s aims, objectives and principles for a CAMHS service delivered by all sectors, health, education and social services.

A review of the strategy will take place this year.  This will provide an opportunity to identify in some detail progress made since the launch and outcomes achieved.  It will reflect new developments and set the future direction for the remainder of the 10 year strategy.

The proposed review of Everybody's Business will enable a refocusing of the policy to ensure the most vulnerable children and young people including those who are looked after, will have access to high quality equitable and responsive services.

Mental health and psychological well being of children and young people is being addressed as one section of the National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services.  The NSF contains specific and measurable key actions for the delivery of multi-agency services across Tiers 1 to 4 that are closely linked to the CAMHS Strategy 'Everybody's Business'

The following funding streams have been provided in relation to the various policies and actions – elements of which support Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS).

• Recurrent NHS money

The £1.2m has been made available for CAMHS from 2004-05 for:

• provision of beds for adolescents who require admission in emergencies,
• Forensic Adolescent Consultation Teams and
• Primary Mental Health Workers.
• Development of a diploma level module by University of Glamorgan and the University of Bangor.
  
• Service and Financial Framework (SaFF) Waiting Times Initiative Monies

Officials have been able to allocate some £1.4m of non-recurrent Waiting Times money, which was earmarked for CAMHS in the 2005/06 financial year.  The bids supported were subject to value for money, measurable outcomes assessment and that the money would be spent in this financial year.

• NHS spend

The various spending streams on CAMHS services are baselined within the allocations to Local Authorities, NHS Trusts and Health Commission Wales. it would very difficult to make direct comparisons with England.

However, Trust expenditure figures on mental health services are available from the NHS trust financial returns. Since 2000 the reported average annual spend for the whole of Wales has been circa £11m (this does not include any LHB or HCW spend).

Programme budgeting was a new initiative in 2003-04 to track expenditure across 23 defined areas - including mental health. Programme budgeting returns from LHBs and HCW report the totality of spending on mental health in Wales.  However, programme budget figures on CAMHS expenditure were only collected for the first time in 2004-05, as it was a new requirement for separate disclosure.

Programme budget data for 2004-05 is recorded as £18.7m Local Health Boards and £9.7m Health Commission Wales.

Children First Programme

The Children First programme is backed by substantial resources.  Since its inception in 1999 over £150m of additional resources has been committed to the programme with a further £45m available in 2006/07.

• Cymorth all Wales allocations

Cymorth- the Children and Youth Support Fund is administered through local Children and Young People’s Partnerships within each Local Authority. It aims to provide a network of targeted support for children and young people, aged 0-25, within a framework of universal provision, in order to improve the life chances of children and young people from disadvantaged families.  


           £
2003-4 39,935,002
2004-5 42,415,000
2005-6 43,263,001
2006-7 54,733,000



Waiting times.

At the end of December 2005:

• The number of children and adolescents waiting over 6 months for a first outpatient appointment fell from 156 to 119, a reduction of nearly a quarter (23 per cent) in the number waiting that length of time.
• The total number of children and adolescents waiting for a first outpatient appointment had fallen and none were waiting over 12 months.
• Of the 911 patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment, 340 were waiting over 3 months, a reduction of 51 over the previous quarter (391).   This represents a fall of 6 percentage points (from 43 to 37 per cent).

Primary Mental Health Workers
Significant progress has been made in employing and training primary mental health workers.  There are currently in excess of 27.5 (wte) primary mental health workers in Wales (excluding admin support).