EXPERTS have called for urgent and fundamental changes to care systems north and south of the border to better safeguard the wellbeing of children in care.

A University of Glasgow study, in partnership with children’s welfare charity NSPCC, looked at the experiences of 488 under-fives in kinship or foster care in Glasgow and London and how their mental health could be improved – the largest study of its kind. 

Researchers concluded that authoritative and consistent oversight of a child’s journey through the care system was crucial to their wellbeing, which could be provided by the appointment of a single ”sheriff,” or expert.

The NSPCC’s Matt Forde said: “Providing early mental health support for infants and their parents and foster carers helps build trusting relationships between the child and the adults caring for them.

“It is crucial that we have clear authoritative leadership at every stage of a child’s journey through the care system, to make sure timely decisions are made.”

Report co-author Professor Helen Minnis, from Glasgow University, added: “Our study showed it was impossible to deliver infant mental health services to these children because of failings in our systems.

“Short timescales in England affected families’ ability to access treatment.

“Yet in Scotland, with no legal timescales, we found there were significant delays and drift in the care system, having an unacceptable impact on young children’s mental health.”

SNP children’s minister Natalie Don-Innes said her government had consulted widely to “inform work on improving experience of the care journey.”