PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Paediatrics (3 February 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Medical Workforce Census 2013, published in December 2014, what plans he has to facilitate integration between child health services and child mental health services.

Asked by:
Stuart Andrew (Conservative)

The Department is working closely with our partners to look at wider system improvements to support the integration of children’s services. This was the focus of a Children’s Health and Wellbeing Partnership seminar on 16 July, which brought together over 50 representatives of national and local government, national health organisations and voluntary sector partners to share expertise and encourage innovation around integrated care and support for children and young people. Following this, the Partnership agreed a work programme on integration, including development of testing pricing and incentive models; sharing best practice across organisations working on integration; using the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing taskforce to extend learning from Special Educational Needs pathfinders; and bringing together and promoting the case for information sharing, including the use of the National Health Service number in Children’s Social Care.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Well-Being Taskforce will consider and make proposals on how we can provide more joined up and accessible services built around the needs of children, young people and their families. Its terms of reference make it clear the Taskforce will establish how improvements can be made including consideration of barriers which prevent change and how these can be overcome. This includes barriers and opportunities for empowerment of the children and young people’s workforce and training provision to develop high-quality services.

The Taskforce brings together a range of experts from across health, social care and education and it has sought the views of young people, their families and carers as well as those working with children and young people to inform their work. A government report of the work of the Taskforce will be published in spring 2015.

Answered by:
Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat)
9 February 2015