Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the identification of mental health needs among young people entering the criminal justice system for the first time in the West Midlands.

Within West Midlands police custody and court settings, Liaison and Diversion Teams, with consent, will assess a young person to identify their needs and vulnerabilities, and will provide information to the police and court to help inform criminal justice decision making. This assessment includes their mental health needs, sharing information with appropriate agencies and liaising with them to ensure the correct support is put in place as they pass through the system.

Should a young person enter prison, the Healthcare Team completes a reception health screen on arrival, before the child or young person’s (CYP) first night and ideally within two hours, using the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) which is a nationally recognised and reliable tool for use with CYP. The assessment identifies life threatening and immediate health needs, identifies prescribed medication and records visible injuries. Where needs are identified actions are taken and information shared. All CYP will then receive a full secure CHAT assessment, which includes assessment of physical health and mental health within three days. There are clear mental health pathways to manage referrals for the needs identified.

On a monthly basis, commissioners monitor the prison healthcare services in relation to completion of CHATs including percentage of CYP receiving a CHAT reception health screening within two hours of admission and percentage of CYP with a CHAT mental health assessment completed within three days.

The above is all delivered in accordance with national service specifications which set out the service to be delivered and associated timescales.