Children & Young People
As of November 3 2008, PCT and children’s trust commissioners will need to be aware that they have a new legal duty under sections 39 and 140 of the Mental Health Act 2007 to inform the courts and local authorities where beds and facilities for under 18 year olds have been (or could be) commissioned. Children under the age of 16 should not be placed on adult wards at all by December 1.
Although all of the Mental Health Act 2007 applies to detained under 18 year olds, there are some provisions of the Act which apply specifically to children and young people. These include:
- Capable young people aged 16 or 17, who either consent to or refuse admission to a hospital or registered establishment for treatment of a mental health disorder, cannot have their consent or refusal overridden by those with parental authority.
- Under 18’s, whether they have been admitted as a voluntary or detained patient, should not be placed inappropriately on adult psychiatric wards. For details please see the briefing.
- Children and young people who are capable of consenting to Electro Convulsive Therapy must also be assessed by a Second Opinion Approved Doctor (SOAD) who must certify that the patient understands the nature, purpose and likely effects and has consented. If a child is not capable of consenting but has been detained under the Act, ECT can still go ahead provided that the SOAD confirms the child is not capable and the treatment is in their best interests.
- Patients aged under 18 should be referred to a Mental Health Review Tribunal if they have not been seen by a Tribunal in the previous 12 months.
More details of these changes, with implementation dates, can be found in a briefing here.
The implementation programme's lead on Children and Young People is Kathryn Pugh. Kathryn is based in London and is also a member of the Children and Families CAMHS Regional Development Team. Further details of the implementation programme for Children and Young People can be found here.
Over the next few months this section will be developed further to include:
- Information for children, young people parents and carers
- Information for Practitioners and commissioners
- Research about developments in Child and Adolescent Mental Health inpatient services
- Examples from across the country of protocols, services and models of care
- Links to useful websites
- Presentations
- Information about events
The information for children, young people, carers, practitioners and commissioners will be dependent on the dependent on the finalisation of the Code of Practice
We are keen to collect and disseminate a wide range of service models and protocols which are being used now to safeguard children and young people and ensure they receive appropriate care. Please email Kathryn Pugh or Mark Drury if you have information such as a service specification or protocol which you and your Trust is happy to share with others.