Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to maintain the quality of services provided by children and adolescent mental health services in the UK.

Norman Lamb

NHS England has responsibility for commissioning Tier 4 (in-patient) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Tiers 1-3 CAMHS are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). There are a number of measures in place to ensure the quality of Tier 4 CAMHS provided by companies:

– All providers of CAMHS need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

– National service specifications have been developed for Tier 4 CAMHS to which all service providers are required to adhere. These are used as part of the standard National Health Service contract. A copy of these documents can be found on NHS England’s website and accessed via the following links:

www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-c/c07/

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/c07-tier4ch-ado-mh-aut.pdf

– All providers are monitored against the standard contract through evidence based contract meetings. NHS England and the CQC may also undertake visits to the units to assess the quality of service being delivered.

– Where concerns or issues are raised about a particular unit, such matters are referred to the Area Team Quality Surveillance Group, chaired by Directors of Nursing, for consideration and discussion.

– Where there is significant cause for concern, NHS England may restrict or stop referrals to a particular unit. In extreme circumstances, the CQC has the powers to de-register a provider from being able to provide CAMH Services.