Access to CAMHS In-patient Care

Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:36 pm on 3 April 2019.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:36, 3 April 2019

I recognise completely the points that the Member makes. I, as a constituency Member, have had casework and met families who are in a very, very difficult position and haven't felt well supported by the system. So, we have not just put resource—financial resource and more staffing—into the broad CAMHS service, but, of course, this goes into our earlier prevention and intervention work, as well as not just the response to 'Mind over matter', but actually the point about what support is available, after admission, for those people who have been in in-patient care.

The Healthcare Inspectorate Wales thematic report—the positive news is that, overall, they found that young people had predominantly good experiences of care, with staff who were compassionate and providing dignified and person-centred care. But that highlights again that it's possible and it's also why there's such a need for improvement for those people where we don't think that has happened and why I know that you'll have seen, and other Members will have seen, examples of where families do not feel that that has happened. So, that's work that carries on, not just in conversations between the Government and health boards, but actually between the health service and people who are using the service to understand whether we're actually meeting our aspirations. 

If the Member has individual examples of where families do not believe that has happened, I would always be interested in receiving details of those to actually be able to take them up directly with that part of the health service.