Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

(asked on 2nd May 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of Tier 4 beds in (a) England, (b) York and (c) North Yorkshire; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the number of beds available.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 11th May 2023

NHS England continually assess the adequacy of children and young people’s Tier 4 mental health services, including in the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area. The National Health Service is working to reduce reliance on inpatient beds and to have fewer young people being detained under the Mental Health Act. To support this, the model of inpatient care is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision of care, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective, and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.

NHS England is committed to developing a national Tier 4 admission protocol for children and young people with multi-agency partners, which will seek to address the need for improvement and consistency in practice when identifying the clinical suitability of admission to hospital, the checks and balances required prior to making referral for a Mental Health Act assessment and promotion of the least restrictive practice principle across services. The national protocol is due to be completed by summer 2023.

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