16/08/2019
The following information had been issued by NHS Castle Point & Rochford and NHS Southend Clinical Commissioning Groups:
MORE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT WORKERS TO BE ROLLED OUT IN LOCAL SCHOOLS
Children and young people in Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) will be among the first to benefit from the ambitions of the Governments Green paper for Transforming Children and young people’s Mental Health.
The area has been selected to be one of the NHS Trailblazer sites to receive additional investment to develop Mental Health Support Teams for Schools and colleges. Teams will work closely with a selection of schools in Thurrock and Southend and colleges across the STP to provide early intervention for concerns such as anxiety, low mood and behavioural difficulties as well as strengthening links with more specialist services.
Mark Tebbs, Lead Commissioner for Mental Health across Mid and South Essex Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) said:
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to collectively build strong partnerships between mental health services and schools and to expand resources so that we can support our children and young people to achieve their full potential. Half of all cases of diagnosable mental illness begin by age 14 and three-quarters by the age of 25. Early intervention and prevention is crucial to prevent problems escalating further into adulthood.”
Dr José Garcia Lobera, Chair and local GP clinical lead for mental health at NHS Southend CCG said:
“I would like to take the opportunity to personally thank the 1757 Southend students who gave their opinions in the Southend Youth Council Mental Health survey, to highlight the need for better Mental Health and Emotional Well-being provision in schools for all Southend pupils. The Youth Council survey formed part of our local bid and I’m sure played a very useful part in Southend being selected as one of the first areas to benefit from this and look forward to working with them and local schools on this national initiative.”
Cllr Anne Jones, cabinet member for children and learning at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, said:
“As a society we are understanding and recognising the importance of mental wellness more than ever before. Being chosen as a trailblazer is fantastic as it means we can help test the effects of early intervention, whilst working closely with our partners to tackle the issue. It is vital younger generations have access to resources such as mental health support workers, so at an early age they can develop the tools needed to recognise and manage stress, anxiety, depression and other mental illness.”
The Link Programme led by Anna Freud Centre and funded by the Department for Education will further strengthen this opportunity across the STP by working with all local schools and mental health services so that CYP can get the help they need, when they need it.
The NHS Long Term Plan will build on the achievements of the £1.4bn transformation programme to improve NHS mental health care for children and young people. The NHS is on track to provide mental health support for 70,000 more children and young people by 2021 and aims to ensure that by 2023/24 at least a further 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 can access support, including via NHS funded mental health services and school or college-based Mental Health Support Teams. Over the coming decade the goal is to ensure that 100% of children and young people who need specialist care can access it.
The specific schools that will be covered by the Mental Health Support Teams will be announced later this year.
