Perinatal and infant mental health programme board/Infant mental health implementation and advisory group final report

Progress Update

Summary of key areas of work

• Developing and embedding statutory services:
  • Funding statutory services (Mother & Baby Units, Specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health Teams, Maternity & Neonatal Psychological Interventions and Infant Mental Health Services)
  • Supporting work across standards/specifications, regionality and integrated working
  • Progressing the options appraisal for additional Mother and Baby Unit provision
  • Supporting the inclusion of new roles such as parent-infant therapists and peer support workers
  • Supporting workforce development, including the work of NES derived from the Perinatal Mental Health Curricular Framework: a framework for maternal and infant mental health
  • Supporting the evaluation and quality assurance of services and models of care to ensure they remain fit for purpose and responsive to clinical need, including the work of the Managed Clinical Network
• Supporting wider provision:
  • Supporting third sector provision through national funding
  • Continuing to prioritise the development of peer support across statutory and third sector services
  • Supporting work to meet the needs of infants and parents affected by substance use in the perinatal period
• Increasing awareness, reducing stigma and promoting a rights based approach:
  • Centring lived experience in local provision
  • Developed the Voice of the Infant Best Practice Guidelines and Infant Pledge, and working toward an Infant Rights Statement
  • Increasing awareness of perinatal and infant mental health through work with See Me, Parent Club (Wellbeing for Wee Ones) and the Managed Clinical Network
  • Supporting families and practitioners to access the right information in a way which meets their needs

These priority areas are reflected in the actions in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan 2023-2025.

Public Health Scotland has undertaken an evaluability assessment of the work of the Board to find out if the mental health of women in the perinatal period and the mental health of infants, up to the age of three years, had improved as a result of changes in services and improved access to appropriate help and support'. The evaluability assessment described four main objectives:

1. To assess if women in the perinatal period are able to access appropriate mental health care services in a timely manner.

2. To assess if primary care givers are able to access appropriate mental health care services for their infants in a timely manner.

3. To assess if practitioners in contact with young families understand the importance of mental health in the perinatal period for both mothers and their babies and are able to appropriately identify, support and refer women and infants who may need more specialist intervention.

4. To assess if offering women and their families early intervention helps to prevent referral to more specialised mental health services.

The evaluability assessment developed a Theory of Change model for perinatal and infant mental health service evaluation and recommended seven studies to meet the four main objectives. These studies are expected to be completed by summer 2024.

The following tables present a more detailed view of the work which has been undertaken between 2019 and 2023. Please note: the work below reflects work completed shortly after the conclusion of the Board and also ongoing work which is being taken forward by various partners. In addition, a new Joint Strategic Board will have a strategic overview of mental health work spanning preconception, the perinatal period, parent-infant relationships, early years (up to 5), children and young people (5-24 year olds or 26 years for care leavers), their families and carers - with a particular focus on the most vulnerable groups. This will build on the work of the Board and also the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board and will be jointly chaired with COSLA.

Information is also available through the following links for a more in-depth account of aspects of the work of the Programme Board:

• Third sector funding: PIMH Report Sept 22 (inspiringscotland.org.uk)
• Service updates: Perinatal and infant mental health services: update - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Training and workforce reporting: Perinatal and infant mental health | NHS Education for Scotland
• Perinatal Mental Health Network Scotland: Delivering Effective Services - Perinatal Mental Health Network Scotland