Written question WQ83132

It is important that we have a rounded view of mental health services, including CAMHS, which takes into account waiting time data but also service user perspectives and the day to day operational pressures faced by mental health teams. To support this, a meeting is held every two weeks between Welsh Government officials and CAMHS clinical leads from each health board. The aim of these meetings is to understand and respond to operational pressures in our CAMHS services. The meeting includes colleagues from the NHS Collaborative and the NHS National Collaborative Commissioning Unit (NCCU) to ensure that we have mechanisms in place to respond to any concerns or issues that are raised across health boards and provide national support.

We continue to monitor the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and well-being of children and young people. The NCCU implemented a demand and capacity tool during the pandemic to support services to plan and respond to changing mental health needs. CAMHS services remained accessible during the pandemic and between October 2020 and January 2021 there was a record high number of children and young people on the waiting list for specialist CAMHS. Services have also reported an increase in the acuity and complexity of some patients which can increase the clinical support needed. In response, we continue to invest across the range of mental health well-being support for children and young people including non-clinical support to prevent issues from escalating; in schools counselling support; and in primary and specialist CAMHS services. All health boards have also implemented Single Points of Contacts for CAMHS to improve access and to ensure timely referral to appropriate support.