Process and outcomes of the CAMHS ministerial taskforce-report and reflections on the ways in which clinicians can be involved in developing evidence-based policy.

Abstract

Aims This session will describe the process by which the CAMHS Ministerial Taskforce was set up and the process of its work, with a recap of the outcomes/recommendations coming from that process. The presentation will also allow some reflections on the political process of policy development and how clinicians can be involved in fostering evidence-based policy in healthcare. Methods The political background to the process and the ways in which the taskforce worked will be described, along with the outcomes and likely impact on practice. Results The taskforce will have reported by the time of the conference and the recommendations for government will have been published. These will be recapped, along with some ideas as to how these will influence commissioning for future specialist CAMHS, impact on primary care and paediatrics, and how the education of future health workforce as well as other professional groups such as social work and school teachers is likely to be influenced. Themes of big data, integration of services, early intervention and CAMHS in-patient provision will be covered in some detail, alongside ideas for future work arising from these recommendations. In wider terms the ways in which government responds to pressure and concerns of clinicians, charities and patients/service users will be examined in terms of the political process and set against some ideas of how clinicians and others can influence the creation of evidence-based healthcare policy. This will be matched against other processes (NICE guidelines for example), with some reflections on how nurses, doctors and other clinicians can be more actively involved in developing policy. In particular whether some groups are better than others at having a voice in the process will be examined, and whether there are ways in which this can be improved for the future, leading to more evidence-based policy and less anecdotally-based, or politically- based policies within healthcare. Conclusions This session will argue for nurses in particular to have a better voice in the development of evidence-based policies for healthcare. It will look at how all healthcare professionals currently influence policy development and look for ways to improve this process