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Young Offender Institutions: Mental Health Services

Volume 476: debated on Tuesday 3 June 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2008, Official Report, column 1151W, on young offender institutions: mental health services, which young offender institutions do not provide child and adolescent mental health support (CAMHS) on site; and which institutions in England provide CAMHS treatment for inmates from young offender institutions in (a) England and (b) Wales. (207367)

All young offender institutions (YOIs) in England have access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) at Tiers 1 to 3, delivered on site, by a range of staff including primary health care staff, education staff, youth justice workers, psychologists, prison officers, child and adolescent psychiatrists, social workers, clinical psychologists.

Tier 4 CAMHS, the level of service for children and young people with serious problems who require highly specialised in-patient treatment, will usually be delivered off-site.

The Secure Forensic Mental Health Service for Young People oversees in-patient treatment and referrals to seven specialist NHS secure hospital units for under-18s throughout England. These are: Roycroft (Newcastle), Gardener (Manchester), Ardenleigh (Birmingham), Bill Yule (Beckenham, South London), Wells Unit (Middlesex), Malcolm Arnold Unit (Northampton) and Bluebird House (Southampton).

The commissioning of secondary/tertiary care health services to YOIs based in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government/NHS Wales.