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In 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. This report states that since the publication of 'Out of sight', stakeholders have been responding to the recommendations made by the CQC. The CQC itself has been implementing the recommendations by improving how they identify closed cultures and regulation of services for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The report also states that more still needs to be done to improve the health and care experiences of people with a learning disability and autistic people, as: there are still too many people in inpatient hospital wards when admitted, some people are spending too long in hospital and discharge can be very slow well over 2,000 mental health inpatients were reported to have been subject to restrictive interventions in August 2021.

This 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.

This 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.

On 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.  Coroner's Matters of Concern The concern in this case is that a vulnerable young person can be known to the County Council and Mental Health Trust and yet not receive the support they need pending substantive treatment. Danny was repeatedly assessed as not meeting the criteria for urgent intervention and yet the waiting list for psychological therapy was likely to be over a year from point of first presentation. 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. Although I understand that there is a long term plan to extend young people’s services to age 25, but I remain concerned about the ongoing situation, and that a young person today could be faced with the same challenges in finding support pending substantive treatment. I believe this concern is the combined responsibility of Cambridgeshire County Council and CPFT. These organisations may wish to consult in preparing their response to this report. The inquest heard evidence about the considerable delay in obtaining appointments for the Gender Identity Clinic, and about the shortage of availability for psychological therapies such as CBT. These are matters for policy and funding. This report will therefore be copied to NHSE and The Secretary of State for Health for information purposes only.

This 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.

This 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.

This 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.

This 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. The report found that access for children and young people was inadequate. It found that the system was complicated, and there was not a clear, easy way to get support. It made the following recommendations: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care should make sure there is joint action across government to make children and young people’s mental health a national priority, working with ministers in health, social care, education, housing and local government Local organisations must work together to deliver a clear ‘local offer’ of the care and support available to children and young people Government, employers and schools should make sure that everyone that works, volunteers or cares for children and young people are trained to encourage good mental health and offer basic mental health support Ofsted should look at what schools are doing to support children and young people’s mental health when they inspect

Improving 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. Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme Early Intervention Eating Disorder (FREED) Focus ADHD Supporting high impact users in Emergency Departments (SHarED) Future Challenges: Young People and Mental Health Resilience S12 Solutions

Social prescribing can be life changing for many children and young people, allowing them to have a voice about what matters to them, access the things they enjoy and can give them a route to achieve their ambitions. The greater choice and control that social prescribing brings also empowers them to make positive decisions, build confidence and increase self-esteem. This toolkit has been developed collaboratively by the charity StreetGames, the South West Integrated Personalised Care Team and other key partners across the UK. It is a guide to developing, implementing and delivering high quality social prescribing for children and young people. It provides a framework to help providers assess what is needed and examples of what others have achieved through social prescribing, and how. It also demonstrates how partnership working allows organisations to achieve more and support young people to have truly great lives.