A national survey of current provision of waiting list initiatives offered by child and adolescent mental health services in England

Children and young people accessing child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) often report delays in receiving an assessment and commencing treatment. In 2018, the James Lind Alliance acknowledged developing CAMHS waiting-list interventions (WLI) as a top 10 priority. This study aimed to examine the current provision of WLI in CAMHS. During 2021, an online survey was sent to each National Health Service (NHS) trust providing CAMHS in England, to explore provision of WLI within their trust. Of the 57 CAMHS trusts identified as meeting inclusion criteria, survey responses were received from 16 trusts, 12 of which had implemented WLI, a large proportion of these were digital interventions. Barriers and facilitators to WLIs were identified, particularly availability of staff. WLIs are being used in some trusts but with limited evidence of evaluation, further research on the acceptability and effectiveness of WLI is warranted.