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 embed support for patients who are parents and their children into adult mental health services; and if he will make a statement.

The community mental health framework sets out the vision for transformation of community mental health services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. The framework sets the expectation that mental health services should ensure ‘joined-up, ongoing, personalised care and support, and access to the right care at the right time for service users and for their families and carers’.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on inpatient mental health asks systems to ensure that special consideration is given to supporting any dependants under 18 years old and that there is good provision of support for carers, including access to group psychoeducation and support for their wellbeing and wider needs. This may be offered through local carers’ support services, and, where needed, through arranging a carer’s assessment. This is also included in the NHS England guidance ‘Acute inpatient mental health care for adults and older adults’.