What plans are in place to establish specialist community perinatal mental health teams in each NHS board area.

Developing specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health teams across every Health Board has been a priority since the start of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board. Since 2019 we have invested over £5.5 million to establish specialist community perinatal mental health teams in every area of Scotland. This is in addition to investment in other specialist services such as infant mental health services and maternal and neonatal psychological interventions (MNPI).
To support Health Board areas to use this funding to develop local services, the Perinatal Mental Health Managed Clinical Network Scotland have developed a number of supporting resources. These include service development guides, care pathways and role descriptors.
We have also recruited a Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Service Development Advisor to work closely with Boards to support them in their implementation of specialist services.
Finalising the establishment of specialist perinatal mental health provision across all Health Boards in Scotland is a priority for the final year of the Programme Board. Every NHS Board area has an Executive Lead driving forward the programme of work and both strategic and implementation groups are also in place.