Significant increases in the number of children seen, staffing numbers and expenditure, are revealed today by the publication of an ongoing survey into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
The annual CAMHS Mapping exercise which collects information about the provision of CAMHS in England is one of the most important data sources in assessing progress towards comprehensive CAMHS, as defined in the Children’s National Service Framework.
Key points from the 2005 survey show that:
Budgets for expenditure on CAMHS were found to have risen by 19% between the financial years 2004/5 and 2005/6, exceeding the NHS
Priorities and Planning Framework (PPF) target of a minimum 10% annual growth in CAMHS investment.
The total number of staff employed in CAMHS teams increased from 8,892 WTE in 2004 to 9,876 WTE in 2005, an increase of 11%, also exceeding the PPF target for CAMHS workforce.
Total caseload of services recorded in the 2005 mapping was 112,984, an increase of 8,240 cases (8%) from 2004.
Ivan Lewis, Health Minister, said:
“It is encouraging to see these results which show that more children, young people and their families are being helped by CAMHS than ever before. The number of new cases seen increased by 12 per cent between 2004 and 2005, and the overall caseload increased by 8 per cent over the same period.
“Despite these improvements, however, there are still considerable variations across England in the availability and length of wait for services. CAMHS mapping makes these differences transparent and is a useful tool to drive up standards in those areas that most need to improve. It is important that the improvements we are seeing are carried on and that work continues to develop those areas of service which remain unsatisfactory.”