The Taskforce is working with a wide range of stakeholders and partners on initiatives that support its goal to make rapid improvements in care. This page provides a summary of the resources that have been produced to date.

Our work is focused on five key areas:

1. People: staff are well trained and supported to deliver high quality inpatient services through person-centred, multi-disciplinary teams.
2. Care management: to ensure the delivery of evidence-based, person-centred care, informed by the views of children and young people and their families/carers.
3. Quality assurance: establish robust ways in which we can detect, monitor and assure quality and patient safety in services for children and young people.
4. Environment: children and young people should be treated in an environment that is appropriate to their needs.
5. Restrictive practices: to reduce the use and reliance upon all restrictive practices, ensuring the child’s rights are protected and best practice is always followed.

Resources and guidance

Cross-cutting

• Themed review on experience of children and young people care for in mental health, learning disability and autism inpatient settings – National Institute for Health Research.
• A resource pack (Future NHS platform requires you toe register) to support the development of local services for children and young people with mental health needs, learning disabilities and/or who are autistic.

People

• Multidisciplinary competence framework for staff working in children and young people’s inpatient mental health services – Health Education England.
• Specialist Autism training for all staff working in in-patient mental health, learning disability and autism services for children and young people – Maudsley Learning.
• Healthcare Support Worker Certificate – Developed in collaboration with Health Education England this is a bespoke training package co-designed for this invaluable staff group and is a much-requested learning opportunity.

Care Management

• ThisMayHelp – Films aimed at parents and carers who may have concerns about their child’s mental health. The website gives easy-to-follow advice to help families manage their child’s mental health. This advice was developed by NHS professionals and parents who’ve been through their own child’s mental health journey. Parents and carers have shared advice that helped them and that may also help other families. The films cover a range of topics including self-harm, eating disorders, managing in a crisis, and preparing for a CAMHS appointment.

Environment

• “It’s Not Rocket Science” – Guidance on changes that providers of CAMHS inpatient services can make to improve the sensory environment – National Development Team for Inclusion.

Restrictive practices

• Toolkit and resources on the use of blanket restriction – part of this project has been to usefully define this restrictive practice, and it includes guidance for practice leaders and senior leaders – Restraint Reduction Network.
• Post incident debriefing and supporting toolkit –  guidance to help people in health care settings, and the staff that support them, to recover and learn from a crisis, reducing restrictive practices.
• Implementing Safewards on Children and Young People’s Mental Health Wards to reduce restrictive practices – King’s College London