Availability of psychiatric care for children and adolescents in the Czech Republic in 2017-2022

This bachelor thesis aims to systematically assess the availability of psychiatric care for children and adolescents in 2017-2022. The thesis answers the question that examines whether psychiatric care for children and adolescents is available and sufficient in 2017-2022. The theoretical part, based on a literature search, describes the topic of health insurance in the Czech Republic and psychiatric care for children and adolescents, where its functioning and structure in the Czech Republic is discussed. The practical part of the thesis is devoted to the analysis of individual indicators, on the basis of which the conclusion of the whole thesis is drawn. The data examined are, for example, in the number of outpatient facilities, children's long-term beds, acute beds, the number of child psychiatrists, the number of attending days, and especially the number of child and adolescent patients. Funding and analysis of the Mental Health Care Reform and the associated National Mental Health Action Plan 2020-2030 are also discussed. The results of the paper meet the stated objective and identify gaps in psychiatric care for children and adolescents. While the numbers of child and adolescent patients are growing unstoppably, all staff and facilities providing mental health care operations, are declining. These results clearly show the mismatch between the growing demand for psychiatric care and the declining resources and capacity in this area. The added value of this work lies in the analysis and subsequent integration of the various factual data, which has enabled clear conclusions to be drawn and provided a comprehensive view of the state of psychiatric care for children and adolescents in the Czech Republic in 2017-2022.