Will the Minister make a statement on the current standard of specialist child and adolescent mental health services in Wales?
We are investing £2.2 million in the NHS Executive to provide dedicated support to improve the quality and performance of all age mental health services. This will include a new Strategic Programme for Mental Health and a Mental Health Patient Safety Programme.
Health boards have agreed trajectories to improve performance and to reduce waiting lists across all mental health services, including CAMHS. Performance against these trajectories is scrutinised through the NHS Executive on a monthly basis.
Health boards have made progress in improving performance in specialist CAMHS and the NHS Executive is developing a national CAMHS specification to reduce variation in CAMHS across Wales.
We have recently published our new draft Mental Health and Well-being Strategy which places a focus on improving quality and patent experience in mental health services, including CAMHS.