NHS to take charge of health services in secure children's homes

Responsibility for commissioning health services for children and young people in secure children’s homes and secure training centres is to pass to the National Health Service.

Care services minister Paul Burstow said the change would ensure better quality care for recipients. At present care is commissioned separately by the Department of Health, the Department for Education, the Youth Justice Board and Ministry of Justice, each with funding from the latter.

Mr Burstow said: “Children and young people in secure settings often have far more unmet health and social needs than other children their age. It is therefore vital that this group benefits from well-commissioned health services, particularly in mental health assessment and treatment.

“By transferring responsibility to the NHS, we can improve the health and well-being of these children and young people, potentially reduce rates of re-offending.”

The change was welcomed by Professor Louis Appleby, the national clinical director for health and criminal justice, who said delivering care through the NHS would “guarantee a consistently high level of quality across the entire secure estate for young people in England”.

He added: “It will also mean that, at times of transition such as when they pass back into community services or into adult services, there is continuity of care and people are not allowed to fall through gaps in the system.”

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The long overdue shift in commissioning health services for children in secure settings to the NHS is very welcome.

“It will go a long way to ensuring that vulnerable children and young people in trouble gain access to the mental health treatment and social care that they need.”

England’s four secure training centres cater for young offenders up to the age of 17 and are run by private operators under contracts.

Secure children's homes generally take 12-16 year olds who are involved in the criminal justice system or who need to be detained for welfare reasons.