Improvements in children’s mental health services at South Wales health board
Gwelliannau mewn gwasanaethau iechyd meddwl i blant mewn bwrdd iechyd yn y De
Real improvements have been made to child and adolescent mental health services provided to people living in the heart of the South Wales Valleys.
The changes mean Health Secretary Jeremy Miles can end the monitoring and support arrangements put in place to improve these services at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
The health board is the only one de-escalated to routine arrangements for CAMHS in Wales.
It has also made improvements to its waiting times and cancer performance, which means the level of support and intervention it receives has been reduced from level four to level three.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board remains in level three for finance and planning.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles said:
“I am really pleased to see the improvements at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and have made the decision to de-escalate child and adolescent mental health services.
“My decision today shows how our support is having an encouraging impact on the quality of care and services NHS Wales organisations provide.
“I want to thank all the staff across the health board who work hard to make a difference to the lives of children who need quality mental health support.”
Notes to editors
The oversight and escalation framework sets out how performance is reviewed, and risk is assessed across the NHS.
There are currently five levels of escalation.
- Level 1 (routine arrangements) - organisation or service is not in an escalated status.
- Level 2 (Area of concern) - this is not a formal level of escalation.
- Level 3 (enhanced monitoring) - Welsh Government will closely monitor, challenge and review progress against the agreed criteria.
- Level 4 (targeted Intervention) - Welsh Government will take co-ordinated action and direct intervention to support the NHS organisation to drive improvement.
- Level 5 (special measures) - Welsh Ministers may intervene as set out in the NHS (Wales) Act 2006. This may include providing targeted support, suspending or removing powers and duties from individual or all members of the NHS organisation’s board.
To be considered for de-escalation, an organisation must demonstrate that the de-escalation and sustainability criteria have been consistently met. De-escalation will be to the next level on the intervention scale with reduced oversight and reporting at each stage of de-escalation.