The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) Report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health highlighted the importance of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the need for development of these services within Scotland. In October 2005, the Scottish Executive published The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care which set the policy direction and a commitment to developing these services.  

Delivery of good quality CAMH services depends on adequate numbers of well trained staff being available for career posts in services across NHS Scotland. In the context of the SNAP report and the emerging shape of the Framework, the Scottish Executive established a CAMH Workforce Group to identify ways in which to build capacity for promotion, prevention, care and treatment within CAMHS. Their report, The Mental Health of Children and Young People in Scotland: Getting the Right Workforce, Getting the Workforce Right, A Strategic Review (2005)  considered the workforce implications of the Framework and provided a range of proposals about how these might be met.  

The Group identified the need for accurate and up to date data about the CAMHS workforce in NHS Scotland, and a web based data collection system was launched in 2005 to capture this information.  The first dataset has been published on 31st October 2006 (CAHMS05.pdf ).    

For further information, please contact:
Liz Jamieson : elizabeth.jamieson@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk