Press release: NHS Confederation welcomes children's plan and CAMHS review

11 Dec 2007

Commenting on the Children's plan, Jo Webber, Deputy Policy Director of the NHS Confederation which represents over 95 per cent of NHS organisations, said:

"We welcome this joined up approach to young people's services. Building on the principles of Every Child Matters, the Child Health Strategy will further strengthen partnership working and improve the care we offer young people."

"It's good news that the Government plans to support parents, carers and whole families to make dramatic and long term improvements to the health of children. However it is crucial that partnerships continue to develop at a local level to make real change sustainable."

Steve Shrubb, director of the Mental Health Network said:

 "We're pleased that a review of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) will take place. It is important that we focus more on preventative measures in CAMHS services and there is certainly more to be done in this area.  In our report "Maintaining the momentum" we highlighted how important it was for NHS organisations to work with other local bodies and design services that actively encourage children to say what they want before problems set in."

ENDS

Notes for editors

See our Children and young people pages.

1. The NHS Confederation represents more than 95% of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
2. The full report can be downloaded from the following link: : Maintaining the momentum towards excellent services for children and young people's mental health..  This raises awareness about the challenges facing child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), the long-term benefits of responding to these challenges comprehensively and what can be done to maintain the recent momentum of progress in CAMHS.

 

Contact details

Contact Niall Smith 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309, Ruth Kennedy 020 7074 3312 or 07884 47 3086, or Ruby Casey-Knight 020 7074 3306 or 07881 957305.  For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.

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