Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the need for effective partnership working across all relevant sectors, including health, to optimise the outcomes of secure care placements and to ensure children have continued access to the care and support in environments that are best suited to their individual needs.

The Scottish Government’s response https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-response-reimagining-secure-care-report/pages/8/ to the reimagining secure care report, published 26 June, sets out the government’s long-term focus to improve the coordination and integration between different parts of the child care system, including mental health. Page 22 of the response sets out a range of actions underway to strengthen the provision of mental health support for children, including:

• Funding of just under £3.5 million in 24-25 across the West, East and North of Scotland to support the planning and development of regional elements of the CAMHS Service Specification. This includes the development of a four-bed Adolescent Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit (IPCU) in the West of Scotland and the development of Learning Disability, Forensic CAMHS and Intensive Home Treatment CAMHS services and regional pathways.
• This includes funding to the West of Scotland, led by NHS GGC, to establish regional CAMHS pathways for those children and young people with forensic needs, in line with the requirements set out in the National CAMHS Service Specification. This funding will support the planning and development of community Forensic CAMHS and CAMHS in Secure Care services and regional pathways.
• As part of this, the West of Scotland regional planning team have developed a regional specification supporting both the FCAMHS and FCAMHS to secure care pathways and will progress to implementation stage once governance and financial arrangements are agreed in coming months.
• The development of the National Secure Adolescent Inpatient Service (NSAIS), known as Foxgrove commissioned by National Services Division, will initially provide four beds for children and young people aged 12-18 years who require psychiatric care in an inpatient setting with medium levels of security. Foxgrove is due to open at the end of 2025.

These will be vital additions to children and young people’s mental health services in Scotland, providing appropriate care and treatment in the right place at the right time, which in turn will support improved mental health care for children and young people in secure care facilities and could reduce psychiatric admission to non-specialist wards and avoid unnecessary admission to psychiatric inpatient care.