Children & Young People
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 held on adult psychiatric wards unless that environment meets their needs.
- 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 CSIP Children and Families CAMHS Regional Development Team
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.
Age-Appropriate Environment Service Standards Workshop
There were over 16,000 occupied bed days for under 18s on adult wards last year - even if we are successful in our drive to improve community crisis services there will continue to be occasions when a young person has to be placed on an adult wards.
NIMHE and its partner organisations are running a workshop to agree a series of standards adult wards can use to assess whether or not they can safely admit young people even if only briefly. These standards will help wards to ensure services offer a safe and therapeutic environment.
The workshop is being held on 25th September at the Royal College of Psychiatrists Research and Training Unit. Interested colleagues from both adult and CAMHS services are invited to attend. For further details, see the flyer and booking form.