§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Education and Skills in relation to the provision of child and adolescent mental health services and the Children's National Service Framework. [176057]
§ Dr. LadymanMy right hon. Friend the Minister for Children and I have joint responsibility for the children's national service framework (NSF). We meet on a regular basis to discuss matters of mutual interest, such as work on the NSF.
Departmental officials with responsibility for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) policy development meet regularly and work closely with policy colleagues within the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to oversee the whole CAMHS development programme. Officials of both Departments are also working closely on the development of the NSF. The DfES was represented on the external working group looking at CAMHS. We will be publishing the NSF later this year.
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Home Office regarding the provision and attachment of specialist child and adolescent mental health services to(a)young offender institutions, (b)Connexions services and (c)youth offending teams; and if he will make a statement. [176059]
§ Dr. LadymanThe Department has had no recent discussions with Home Office colleagues, nor in respect of Connexions services with colleagues in the Department for Education and Skills, on the matters raised in the question.
The Department remains committed to meeting the needs of vulnerable young people within the youth justice system. There are clear indications that the prevalence of mental health needs among young people supervised by youth offending teams (YOTs) and in custody is significantly higher than that of the general population. Departmental officials continue to work with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) on child and adolescent mental health service input into YOTs. The Department, together with the Prison Service and YJB, have jointly appointed a programme manager for juvenile health and well being. Among the benefits we expect to see is a greater understanding of the nature and prevalence of mental health disorders, which in turn will lead to primary care trusts being better able to commission services to meet the identified need.
Departmental officials are also members of the Department for Education and Skills Connexions services advisory group, where input from child and adolescent mental health services has been discussed.
The children's national service framework is scheduled to be published later this year and will point the future direction of child and adolescent mental health services, including those for this particularly vulnerable group of young people.
§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged between 18 and 25 years are currently being treated as in-patients in psychiatric164W hospitals in England and Wales; and what is the average length of stay in in-patient units of psychiatric hospitals for that age group. [177515]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonInformation is not available in the requested format.
There were 2,863 unfinished episodes where the patient was aged between 18 and 25 years and under mental illness specialities at 31 March 2003.
Mean and median lengths of stay of patients in this age group treated under mental illness specialities in 2002–03 were 114 and 20 days respectively.
Notes:
1. Figures have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
2. Length of stay is the time from when a patient is admitted to hospital until he or she is discharged.
3. Length of stay for an unfinished episode is the time from when a patient is admitted to Hospital until 31 March in the relevant year.
Source:
Hospital episode statistics, Department of Health.