Written question asked by Charles Walker (Conservative) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 April 2010. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have a remit to address the needs of children with (a) a learning disability, (b) an autistic spectrum disorder, (c) an eating disorder and (d) a physical or sensory disability.

Answer: "The Mental Health and Psychological Well-being of Children and Young People", Standard 9 of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, published in 2004 set out the policy framework for a comprehensive Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). A copy has already been placed in the Library. This includes the need for specialised services for the full range of mental disorders including complex needs in conjunction with other agencies as appropriate, including learning disabilities.The children's service mapping exercise in England in 2007-08 provided information on CAMHS teams providing services to children and young people with a learning disability or an autistic spectrum disorder. The mapping found that 685 CAMHS teams supported autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) children and young people and their families. Of these 108 CAMHS teams reported providing targeted work for children and young people with ASD. Additionally of the 349 community paediatric services 193 (55 per cent.) ran ASD clinics. The mapping found a total of 722 CAMHS teams (69 per cent. of all teams) provided specialist learning disability care.We do not collect information on the number of specialist CAMHS services providing services to address the needs of children with learning disability, ASD, eating disorder and a physical or sensory disability.

Secondary information