CYP Now - Editorial: Why the future's not so bright for CAMHS

The last three years have, on the whole, been good for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in England. There has been unprecedented investment, in the form of an extra 300m, and a real drive to increase staff and caseload numbers. And along with this extra funding, services have also had extra responsibilities; namely to provide comprehensive mental health services to all children and young people by the end of 2006, with a particular focus on 24/7 on-call cover and appropriate services for 16- and 17-year-olds and those children with learning disabilities.

As the deadline draws near, it seems CAMHS professionals, and theirlocal authority and primary care trust counterparts, have risen to thechallenge and come close to reaching the targets set down for them bythe Chancellor, Gordon Brown, in 2002 (see feature, p22).

However, as the analysis on p20 reveals, the future is not looking sobright. While it may be true that, overall, CAMHS has moved in the rightdirection, there are still wide discrepancies in local provision. Moreworrying still is the uncertainty facing CAMHS when it comes to futurefinancing. Not only are services unsure what funding they'll get after2007/08, but the cash crisis engulfing the NHS is causing much concern,with reports of service cutbacks, clinic closures and long-term unfilledvacancies.

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