ABSTRACT
Children's mental health needs, in the broadest sense, are met by a multitude of people: firstly, by their parents, other relatives and friends. But also by a variety of professionals, the child in school and the adolescent in youth clubs to the various professionals working in multidisciplinary teams that is 'specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)'. The provision of mental health services is not confined to mental health practitioners: paediatricians, both in hospital and even more so in the community, manage a great many mental health problems, often without much support from overstretched specialist CAMHS services. In schools, support for individual children is invaluable, either in the form of someone a child can talk to if needs, or special needs help. More effective coordination at a national level may be provided by the National Advisory Council, which aims to hold government, children's trusts and commissioners to account in implementing the conclusions of the National CAMHS review.
