Work Wise: Crib sheet - The next steps for mental health services

Which of the Children's Plan reviews and strategies have been published so far?

It's a challenge keeping up-to-date, isn't it? We've seen the updated drugs strategy, an interim report on the Bercow review, the Byron Review on new technologies, the Staying Safe Action Plan, the Care Matters implementation plan and the Youth Taskforce Action Plan. More recently, the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) review - which is independent, although it reports to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department of Health in October 2008 - has announced a call for evidence.

That sounds official.

Well, it's only part of the process, which also involves a review of existing evidence, focus groups of children and young people and their parents and visits to primary care trusts and local authorities. Its remit is broad: "The review will investigate how universal, targeted and specialist services can be improved to meet the needs of children and young people who are experiencing, or are at risk of, mental health problems". That means GPs and schools (universal), social workers (targeted), and hospitals (specialist) - the essential building blocks for a comprehensive CAMHS. The use of the term CAMHS is also wide, and includes services that promote emotional wellbeing, as well as those that address mental health needs.