Consultation on Children and Young People's Mental Health

The UK Parliament is calling for evidence to its inquiry into Children and Young People’s mental health, looking at the progress the government has made against their previously announced ambitions to improve children and young people’s mental health provision. The inquiry will also be considering if the system should be reformed to a holistic approach, with priority given to early intervention and prevention, as well as crisis care and how concerning trends in self harm and suicide can be addressed. 

The inquiry will be considering the following:  

• What progress have the Government made on children and young people’s mental health, including but not limited to:
1. The ambitions laid out in the 2017 Green Paper.
2. Provision of mental health support in schools.
3. Provision of support for young people with eating disorders.
4. Addressing capacity and training issues in the mental health workforce.
5. Improving access to mental health services.

• How inpatient care can be improved so that it is not creating additional stress on children and young people, and how the use of physical and medical restraint can be reduced.

• The wider changes needed in the system as a whole, and to what extent it should be reformed in favour of a model that focuses on early intervention in children and young people’s mental health to prevent more severe illness developing.

• How the Government can learn from examples of best practice, including from other countries?

• What measures are needed to tackle increasing rates of self-harming and suicide among children and young people?

If you would like to comment and add to our response please submit your responses to the above together with anything you consider relevant to clinicalconsultations@rcn.org.uk by Friday 19th February 2021.