The NHS Long-Term Plan signalled an increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support for children and young people with mental health, learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders.
The aim is to enable more children and young people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. Every local health system will be expected to use some of this growing community health services investment to have a seven-day specialist multidisciplinary service and crisis care.
In late 2020 and early 2021 NHS England & Improvement (NHSE&I) identified that several young people in the North West had struggled to access appropriate care prior to their presentation to Tier 4 CAMHS services. This raised the question as to whether the current Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) service offers to young people and their families by health and local authorities is fit for purpose, as some young people appear to be falling between these services. As a result, NHSE&I commissioned an independent review of CAMHS services in the North West which is now complete.
Towards a Better Future: North West CAMHS Independent Review was published on 9th August 2021. The findings of the review helped shape nine recommendations (see Appendix E) for the three North West Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to take forward.
The delivery of these recommendations has been overseen since September 2021 by the Cheshire and Merseyside CAMHS Review Oversight Group. This Oversight Group has brought together three programmes of work (mental health, learning disabilities and autism (Transforming Care) and children and young people ((CYP) Beyond) and the Lead Provider Collaborative for Tier 4 CAMHS with other interested parties.
Each of these areas of work has specific accountabilities but all are collectively responsible, within an Integrated Care System, for supporting CYP. The Oversight Group has been a mechanism for ensuring that there is a common and collective understanding of what actions are being taken to respond to this review and how we deliver together. The Oversight Group has been reporting into the Beyond Programme Board.