Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services in Bristol.

It is the responsibility of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board to make available appropriate provision to meet the mental health and other care needs of the local population in Bristol.

Nationally, we are supporting the expansion and transformation of mental health services for children and young people through the NHS Long Term Plan. As part of the accompanying investment of at least an extra £2.3 billion a year by March 2024, an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to get the mental health support they need.

We also provided an additional £79 million for 2021/22 to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community mental health services and around 2,000 more to access eating disorder services.

We continue to roll out mental health support teams in schools and colleges across the country, offering early support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. As of May 2022, eight mental health support teams were in place or planned in the area covered by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire integrated care system.

NHS England has consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards as part of its clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards, including that children, young people and their families presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. As a first step, NHS England has shared and promoted guidance with its local system partners to consistently report waiting times to support the development of a baseline position.