Assessment of need reform will not fix wider crisis of accessing care and children will pay the price

The assessment of need crisis is part of a wider failure by successive governments to build properly staffed, integrated child and adolescent services in the first place

The State is once again reaching for backlog management in one isolated part of an overall dysfunctional system. That may create the appearance of action, but it does not answer the most basic question families are asking: when my child needs support, who will actually see them, how quickly, and in which service?

To the layperson, the terminology can sound bewildering: assessment of need, primary care, CDNTs, Camhs. But for thousands of families, this is the system they must navigate when they are concerned about their child and trying to access support.

Primary care refers to the range of services for young people with mild to moderate developmental or mental health needs. Children’s Disability Network Teams are specialist multidisciplinary secondary care teams for young people with more complex disability-related needs. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) are secondary care teams for young people with moderate to severe mental health difficulties.