Supervised Community Treatment: - Social Perspectives Network

Section
Children and Adolescents
appropriate care. Young service users who are eligible for SCT may
well transfer to adult services when they become 18, and it is essential
that there are robust transition protocols to ensure that they get the best
possible treatment which continues to support them through the transition
and beyond.
Depending on the age of the young person, it may also be necessary to
involve the patient’s parent, or whoever will be responsible for looking after
the patient, to ensure that they are willing and able to provide the patient
with the support they may need. If the SCT patient under 18 is living with
one or more of their parents then, subject to the normal considerations of
patient confidentiality, the parents should be consulted about particular
treatment. It would cause a difficult situation for all concerned if a parent
was not in agreement with some aspect of their child’s treatment, or the
conditions attached to SCT. If a child is not competent to consent to
treatment, the patient’s care team will need to review their case, involving
the parents or guardians, to decide if SCT is appropriate.
Parents (or other people with parental responsibility) may not consent on a
child’s behalf to treatment for mental disorder (or refuse it) while the child is
on SCT, but the parents’ co-operation is likely to be essential for the success
of the treatment.
Section
Children and Adolescents
See CoP 36.78 for further information on confidentiality and children and
young people.
In an emergency a child can be treated in the community without reference to
a CAMH specialist but it is best practice for this treatment to be carried out
by a CAMH specialist, or for a member of the CAMH team to advise the adult
specialist treating the child. See CoP 36.51 for information about emergency
treatment for patients under 18.
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