Barnardo’s Scotland has welcomed a commitment by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to carry out a review of the referral and assessment process for children and young people to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland said: “We are very pleased that the First Minister has moved quickly and announced this review in response to the concerns that we raised earlier in the week. As we highlighted 1 in 5 of all referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are rejected.
“It is vital that we understand why this is happening and what happens to those children who are rejected. We also hope the review will consider the criteria for referral nationally, the process for making referrals including who can make them, how the process can be improved and crucially what happens to those children and young people who are not seen.
“We hope that the review will also look at addressing the gaps in the collection of national data particularly on the source and reason for referral as well as the socio-demographic features of the children and young people referred.
“We are grateful to Monica Lennon MSP who took forward our call in the Scottish Parliament and for the important research work by Joanna Smith at The University of Stirling.”
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