Dependency scoring for child and adolescent inpatient mental health services

Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) inpatient units provide multi-disciplinary treatment for young people with a wide range of complex needs, many of whom have co-morbid presentations. There is no reliable, validated measure of CAMHS patient dependency. This article reports the first stages of a project to develop a properly researched dependency measure for use before (i.e. by those referring the young person) and during the young person's stay. Expert opinion was sought to develop a list of statements regarding a young person's care which could be rated according to level of need. Initial piloting demonstrated face and concurrent validity; next steps include exploring issues of item ambiguity and weighting.