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Showing results for tags 'Mental health - CAMHS'.
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EventThe Restraint Reduction Network is a movement of people who want to eliminate the use of unnecessary restrictive practices, protect human rights and make a positive difference in people's lives. This webinar is an opportunity to find out more about participating in this project, which goes live in September 2022. The session will help you understand your practice in relation to use of psychotropic medication with children and young people and will give you the opportunity to compare your practice to other inpatient units through a benchmarking dashboard. Register for the webinar
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News ArticleHundreds of children suffering from mental health issues are attending A&E each day, with some waiting up to five days in emergency departments, The Independent can reveal. Internal NHS data leaked to The Independent, shows the number of young patients waiting more than 12 hours from arrival has also more than doubled in the last year. A national survey of senior A&E doctors by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) found in some areas children’s mental health services have worsened in the last three years, while the majority of respondents warned there were no children’s crisis services open after 5pm. One NHS trust chief executive has warned his hospital’s A&Es have seen a “real surge” in both attendances of people with severe mental health issues and a sharp increase in long waits in recent months. One parent, Lee Pickwell, told The Independent his daughter was admitted to paediatric wards several times and stayed days in an emergency “section 136” unit while she waited more than two months for a mental health bed. Dr Mark Buchanan, RCEM’s lead for children’s mental health, told The Independent that despite improvements, children’s mental health services still fall short of what is needed. Dr Buchanan said: “I’ve seen children who have been not seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), who been refused the referrals, despite the fact that the mum and dad were taking it in turns to sleep outside their bedroom door because they were scared that they’d run away and do some harm.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 July 2022
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News Article
'Urgent' changes needed for child disability care
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The mothers of two teenage boys who died after failures in their care have called on the government to make "urgent improvements" to how children with disabilities are assessed. Sammy Alban-Stanley, 13, and 14-year-old Oskar Nash both died in 2020. Inquests for both boys recorded they had received inadequate care from local authorities and mental health services. The calls were made in an open letter to the secretaries of state for health and social care, and education. Patricia Alban and Natalia Nash asked Sajid Javid and Nadim Zahawi to make fundamental changes to several care areas to prevent future deaths. The pair said they both experienced problems with support for disabled children and families. Services lacked understanding of neurological conditions like autism, they said. The pair also pointed to a lack of access to children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), and failure to assess or review the severity of a child's developing needs. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 June 2022 -
Content ArticleThis study in the journal Health and Social Care Delivery Research mapped interventions aimed at reducing restrictive practices in children and young people’s institutional settings around the world. It also assessed which process elements led promising behaviour change techniques, and compared the results with a companion review of adult psychiatric inpatient settings. In the first evidence review of its kind, the authors found that interventions tend to be complex, reporting is inconsistent and robust evaluation data are limited. But they did find some behaviour change techniques that warrant further research. They argue that better evidence could help address the urgent need for effective strategies.
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Content ArticleRecent analysis shows that recognisable mental health issues are increasing amongst young people, with referrals to children and young people's mental health services increasing by 81% in April to September 2021, compared to the same period in 2019. In this blog, Martina Kane, Policy and Engagement Manager at The Health Foundation, looks at the contextual factors that influence young people's mental health, arguing that these are often overlooked in the way mental health issues are treated. She looks at factors such as parental unemployment, the energy crisis and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education, and argues that these must be taken into account when designing mental health services for children and young people. She highlights that while young people benefit personally from good mental health, it is also an asset for society and the economy that must be invested in by the government.
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Content ArticleEpistemic injustice occurs when a person is not given authority and credibility as a 'knower' in a conversation, due to negative stereotypes associated with their identity. These stereotypes might relate to their age, gender, ethnicity, social class, education, sexual orientation or health. Young people with unusual experiences and beliefs are particularly at risk of experiencing epistemic injustice, and this can have a negative impact on their health outcomes. In this blog Joe Houlders, Matthew Broome and Lisa Bortolotti from the University of Birmingham talk about the risks of young people with unusual experiences and beliefs experiencing epistemic injustice in clinical encounters. This is the first in a series of blogs reporting outcomes from a project on Agency in Youth Mental Health, led by Rose McCabe at City University.
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Content ArticleThis Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) investigation explores the care of patients who present to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) with questions about their gender identity and are referred to specialised gender dysphoria services. Gender dysphoria is a sense of unease, distress or discomfort that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. For example, a child who is registered as male at birth might feel or say that they are a girl, or feel that neither ‘boy’ nor ‘girl’ are the right word to describe how they feel about themselves. Gender dysphoria is not identified as a mental illness by the NHS, but some people may develop mental health problems because of gender dysphoria.
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News Article
Swamped NHS mental health services turning away children, say GPs
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Children and young people who are anxious, depressed or are self-harming are being denied help from swamped NHS child and adolescent mental health services, GPs have revealed. Even under-18s with an eating disorder or psychosis are being refused care by overstretched CAMHS services, which insist that they are not sick enough to warrant treatment. In one case, a crisis CAMHS team in Wales would not immediately assess the mental health of an actively suicidal child who had been stopped from jumping off a building earlier the same day unless the GP made a written referral. In another, a CAMHS service in eastern England declined to take on a 12-year-old boy found with a ligature in his room because the lack of any marks on his neck meant its referral criteria had not been met. The shocking state of CAMHS care is laid bare in a survey for the youth mental health charity stem4 of 1,001 GPs across the UK who have sought urgent help for under-18s who are struggling mentally. CAMHS teams, already unable to cope with the rising need for treatment before Covid struck, have become even more overloaded because of the pandemic’s impact on youth mental health. Mental health experts say young people’s widespread inability to access CAMHS care is leading to their already fragile mental health deteriorating even further and then self-harming, dropping out of school, feeling uncared for and having to seek help at A&E. “As a clinician it is particularly worrying that children and young people with psychosis, eating disorders and even those who have just tried to take their own life are condemned to such long waits”, said Dr Nihara Krause, a consultant clinical psychologist who specialises in treating children and young people and who is the founder of stem4. “It is truly shocking to learn from this survey of GPs’ experiences of dealing with CAMHS services that so many vulnerable young people in desperate need of urgent help with their mental health are being forced to wait for so long – up to two years – for care they need immediately. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2022 -
Content ArticleThe UK Government has opened a consultation on changes to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Code of Practice, and implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). This consultation is also seeking views on the LPS regulations, which will underpin the new system. This consultation applies to England and Wales and is open until 7 July 2022.
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Content ArticleSky Rollings had been diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. She was transferred from a Children and Adolescent Mental Health Hospital to the Acute Adult Unit at the Harplands Hospital on 4 November 2019. She died on 9 November at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
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Content ArticleSamantha Gould was 16 years old when she died by suicide due to an overdose of prescribed medication on 2 September 2018. She had borderline personality disorder that meant she was at risk of deliberate self-harm and suicide. In this report, the Coroner highlights concerns about a systemic weakness in the way in which Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and primary care communicate with local pharmacies concerning 16-18 year old patients who are at risk of deliberate overdose. In spite of a safety plan agreed with Sam’s consultant psychiatrist whereby Sam’s parents would be responsible for her medication, Sam was able to pick up older prescriptions on 1 September 2018 without challenge, and it was those medications that were fatal in the combined amounts ingested by Sam.
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News Article
Transgender teenager's death preventable, coroner says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The death of a "vulnerable" transgender teenager who struggled to get help was preventable, a coroner has said. Daniel France, 17, was known to Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust (CPFT) when he took his own life on 3 April 2020. The coroner said his death showed a "dangerous gap" between services. When he died, Mr France was in the process of being transferred from children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Suffolk to adult services in Cambridgeshire. The First Response Service, which provides help for people experiencing a mental health crisis, also assessed Mr France but he had been considered not in need of urgent intervention, the coroner's report said. Cambridgeshire County Council had received two safeguarding referrals for Daniel, in October 2019 and January 2020, but had closed both. "It was accepted that the decision to close both referrals was incorrect", Mr Barlow said in his report. Mr Barlow wrote in his report, sent to both the council and CPFT: "My concern in this case is that a vulnerable young person can be known to the county council and [the] mental health trust and yet not receive the support they need pending substantive treatment." He highlighted Daniel was "repeatedly assessed as not meeting the criteria for urgent intervention" but that waiting lists for phycological therapy could mean more than a year between asking for help and being given it. "That gap between urgent and non-urgent services is potentially dangerous for a vulnerable young person, where there is a chronic risk of an impulsive act," Mr Barlow said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 February 2022 -
Content ArticleOn 8 April 2020 the coroner commenced an investigation into the death of Daniel France, age 17. Danny was 17 years old and was living at a YMCA hostel. He was on medication for depression and had been referred to secondary mental health services. He had made previous suicide attempts. On 3 April 2020 he took his own life. The medical cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging and the conclusion was suicide. Danny was a vulnerable teenager: he had left home and was living in hostel accommodation; he had changed his GP practice; he was trans, had changed his name and had been referred to the Gender Identity Clinic; he had recently been discharged from secondary mental health services in Suffolk and had been referred to mental health services in Cambridge; he had previously been under CAMHS and was now being referred to adult mental health services; he had diagnoses of anxiety and depression and had been prescribed medication; he had made previous suicide attempts and had long term suicidal thoughts He had been assessed by First Response Service but had been considered as not requiring urgent intervention. Safeguarding referrals about Danny were made to Cambridgeshire County Council in October 2019 and January 2020. Both referrals were closed and it was accepted that the decision to close both referrals was incorrect. In December 2019 Danny’s new GP referred him to Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT). He had been seen by the Primary Care Mental Health Services but was still awaiting assessment by the Adult Locality Team at the time of his death.
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Content ArticleRebecca Romero was 15 years old and had a long history of self-harm and mental health problems. On 19 July 2017 she was found dead at her home, with a ligature around her neck. Rebecca had left Pebble Lodge psychiatric unit for a period of leave on 6 July 2017, but never returned to the unit after her leave. The original plan was to transfer her to an alternative unit, Riverside, but as there were no inpatient or day patient places available, a discharge meeting was held on 14 July where a community care package was put in place. She was under the community team at the time of her death, but had not been seen since her discharge.
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Content ArticleThis non-statutory guidance from the UK Government aims to support education, health and care settings and services in putting in place measures which will help them: understand the needs of children and young people, including the underlying causes of and triggers for their behaviour. develop strategies and plans to meet those needs and regularly review them as children change. adapt the environments in which children and young people are taught and cared for so as better to meet their needs. provide appropriate support for children and young people whose behaviour challenges, without the use of restraint or restrictive intervention. It sets out relevant law and guidance and provides a framework of core values and key principles to support: a proactive approach to supporting children and young people whose behaviour challenges. a reduction in the need to use restraint and restrictive intervention.
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News ArticleChildren with mental health problems are dying because of failings in NHS treatment, coroners across England have said in what psychiatrists and campaigners have called “deeply concerning” findings. In the last five years coroners have issued reports to prevent future deaths in at least 14 cases in which under-18s have died while being treated by children’s and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The most common issues that arise are delays in treatment and a lack of support in helping patients transition to adult services when they turn 18. Coroners issue reports to prevent future deaths in extreme cases when it is decided that if changes are not made then another person could die. Dr Elaine Lockhart, the chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ faculty of child and adolescent psychiatry, said the findings were “deeply concerning” and every death was a tragedy. She said there were too often lengthy delays and services were under strain as demand rises and the NHS faces workforce shortages. “In child and adolescent mental health services in England, 15% of consultant psychiatrist posts are vacant,” Lockhart said, calling for more support, investment and planning to grow staff levels. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2022
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Content ArticleThis guide by the University of Birmingham's Institute for Mental Health is designed to help young people prepare to talk with their GP about self-harm and suicidal experiences. It contains advice about what to do before, during and after a GP visit.
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Content Article15 year-old Mary Bush had a diagnosis of anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome and suicidal ideation, and on 6 August 2020, Mary took her own life. In her report, the Coroner raises a number of concerns and highlights action that needs to be taken to prevent future deaths.
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Content ArticleIn this report, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) comments on progress following publication of its 'Out of sight – who cares?' report in October 2020, and highlights the main areas where further work is still needed.
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Content ArticleThis report describes the findings of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) review of children and young people’s mental health services. The report focuses on three main aspects of the mental health system for children and young people: People’s experience of and involvement in care How partners plan and deliver services that offer high quality care that can be accessed in a timely fashion How partners in the local area identify mental health needs and what they do to start the process of getting the right support for children and young people The CQC spoke with staff working across different parts of the system, children, young people, parents, families and carers. They also reviewed policies and procedures, and used ‘case-tracking’ to examine in detail how individual children and young people with mental health problems moved through the system.
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Content ArticleThis editorial in The Lancet examines the growing gap between the mental health needs of children and young people in the UK, and the services available to support them. It comments on the report by the Children's Commissioner 'The state of children’s mental health services 2018/19', which highlighted that an estimated 13% of children aged 5–19 years in England have a mental health disorder, with the true numbers of children affected are likely to be much higher. The article looks at treatment delays, long waiting lists and the denial of treatment for children whose symptoms are not considered 'serious enough'. It highlights chronic underfunding and lack of parity between physical and mental health problems as major causes.
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Content ArticleThis is the report of an independent assurance review of an independent investigation which considered the care and treatment of mental health service user David at North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, published in June 2020.
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Content ArticleThis is the executive summary of the independent investigation report into the care and treatment of 16 year-old David, who committed suicide in October 2016. At the time of his death David was receiving care and treatment from North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
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News ArticleA cutting-edge child and adolescent mental health centre hopes to help prevent young people from experiencing mental health problems. As we look hopefully towards a June bonfire of pandemic regulations and restrictions, many recognise that soaring rates of mental health problems and distress amongst our children and young people must be near the top of a 21st century list of challenges in “building back better”. School closures, uncertainty and being cut off from friends and social and sporting events have seen more children and young people referred to CAMHS — a service that was facing growing demand even before the pandemic. The long-term impact is obviously still unknown. However, a cutting-edge child and adolescent mental health centre opening in south London two years from now will play a big role in responding to the likely increased demand for ongoing support — and in developing innovative treatment responses. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 April 2021
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Content ArticleImproving and widening access to care for children and adults needing mental health support is a key priority for the NHS, as outlined in the Long Term Plan. Tthe West of England AHSN are working with NHS commissioners and providers, industry partners, other AHSNs, local trusts, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and community providers on a wide range of initiatives to support their work to improve mental healthcare and wellbeing.
