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 improve waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Wakefield constituency.

Information on waiting times is not collected as a national access and waiting times standard for children and young people’s mental health services in England has not yet been defined or set.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to increasing investment into mental health services by at least an additional £2.3 billion a year by March 2024. This will allow 345,000 more children and young people, including children and young people in Wakefield, to access NHS funded mental health support and improve waiting times.

NHS England has also consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards as part of its clinically led review of NHS access standards. One of these is that children, young people and their families/carers presenting to community-based mental health services, should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. We are now working with NHS England on the next steps.