Professionals’ Survey for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce

Overview

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce has been set up to consider some of the biggest challenges facing mental health services for children and young people, and to find ways to tackle these problems across the system.

What is the purpose of this survey?

An important part of finding solutions is speaking with professionals who work with children and young people across a diverse range of sectors.

The Taskforce has heard about the problems that children and young people face in getting the right support for their mental health needs. We now want suggestions from frontline professionals of feasible solutions and practical steps that government, the NHS, voluntary organisations, local authorities and individual providers could take to improve children and young people’s mental health outcomes.

Who should take part?

There are no special requirements to take part, this is an open call for views. The Taskforce wants to hear views on these issues from a diverse range of professionals who work with children and young people directly or indirectly and have experience and ideas to share with us.

We will be speaking to children and young people and their families separately to this survey. If you would like to know more about this,, please contact CYPMHTaskforce@dh.gsi.gov.uk

What information is the survey looking for?

The questions are built around the four key themes identified by the Taskforce members:

• Data and standards

• Access and prevention

• A co-ordinated system

• Vulnerable groups and inequalities

Before each question, we have provided context as to why we are asking that particular question. We particularly want practical solutions and steps that may not have occurred to our Taskforce members. Ideas can be short, medium, or long term. If you have personal experience of something working well or badly, then please do include this.

The survey contains 11 questions. Please limit your answers to a maximum of 150 words. You do not need to answer all of the questions if you don’t wish to.

If you work with young people who are considered particularly vulnerable (e.g. victims of sexual exploitation, learning disabled children, looked after/adopted children, young offenders), please consider specific ways that the questions relate to them.

What will happen to the views I feed in?

Your ideas and views will directly impact the core work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce by informing and shaping the contents of their final report, which we expect to be published in the spring.

What other ways are there to get involved?

We are also holding three regional engagement events in late November and early December. For more information on attending these, and giving further views, please visit:

South West - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cyp-mental-health-taskforce-professionals-engagement-south-west-tickets-14259864639

South East - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cyp-mental-health-taskforce-professionals-engagement-south-east-tickets-14259974969

North East - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cyp-mental-health-taskforce-professionals-engagement-north-east-tickets-14260031137

Where can I find out more?

More information on the Taskforce and its Task and Finish Groups can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-well-being-taskforce

For updates on the work of the Taskforce, please follow #CYPMHTaskforce on Twitter. To send us your suggestions on improving CYPMH services, or to follow/join the online discussion, follow #youngmentalhealth.

For queries or problems, please contact CYPMHTaskforce@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Introduction

Contact details

The personal details you give in the following questions are confidential, will not be stored beyond the end of the Taskforce’s work, will not be passed onto third parties, and will not be used for purposes other than the Taskforce’s work.

Question: Name
National Deaf Children’s society

Question: Phone number
N/a

Question: Would you be happy for the Taskforce Secretariat to get in contact, if they would like to speak further with you about your answers to this survey? (Required) Yes
Yes

Email address

This is optional, but if you enter your email address then you will be able to return to edit your consultation at any time until you submit it. You will also receive an acknowledgement email when you complete the consultation.

Question: Email
ian.noon@ndcs.org.uk

Your Work

The information collected in the following questions may be published in a collated format to show the demographics who responded to the survey (e.g. 20 people from South West).

Question: Which of the following best describes the service you work in? (Required)

Education - Early years

Education - Primary Education

Education - Secondary Education

Education - Further Education

Education - Higher Education

Health - Specialist CAMHS

Health – Community

Health - Acute/Hospital

Policing & Justice

Local Authority

Voluntary

Other – please specify
Charity

The National Deaf Children’s Society is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for every deaf child and young person.

Question: Which of the following best describes your role? (Required)

Counsellor

Psychologist

Doctor (GP)

Doctor (Other – please specify below)

Nurse

Police

Offender Management

Teaching staff

Youth Worker

Social worker

Commissioner

Policy

Other – please specify
Head of Policy and Research

We may wish to use quotes or information from your answers to this survey in the Taskforce’s final report. No names, location, contact details, or anything else that could identify you will be included.

Question: Are you happy to have your answers to this survey published in the CYPMH Taskforce report or its annex? (Required)
Yes

For queries, please contact CYPMHTaskforce@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Prevention and access to support

Early intervention

We know that early intervention can reduce the risk of mental health difficulties later in life, with long term benefits to the child and wider society.

Question: How can early intervention to prevent mental health difficulties be supported and improved? (across early years, schools, colleges, youth services, primary care services, and all health services).

The National Deaf Children’s Society believes there needs to be more training for mainstream practitioners on the implications of deafness for deaf children’s mental health and well-being, as well as an improved knowledge of referral pathways.

Research has found that deaf children are four times more likely to experience mental health concerns. Language and communication delay can limit deaf children’s social skills and interpersonal skills with obvious implications for their emotional well-being.

As deafness is a low incidence disability, it is unlikely that mainstream practitioners will have a good understanding of these implications. Specialist education support services for deaf children and specialist social workers for deaf children will therefore have a key role to play in providing multi-agency training and improving awareness of the implications of deafness among the general workforce.

Family in early years

Much of the evidence we have seen so far has been around the role of the family in early years.

Question: How can families of young children be supported to nurture their child’s mental health and wellbeing early, and avoid problems arising?

We would also likely to see a greater emphasis on supporting families with communication and promoting good mental health and well-being among deaf children. 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents with little or no background in deafness. This means that some families can struggle to develop good communication skills with their child.

More generally, we also believe that families need support to help their child develop a positive identify as a deaf person. Families with deaf children should also be exposed to positive deaf role models with tips and strategies in dealing with prejudice and discrimination. Deaf children should be provided with opportunities to meet other deaf children, acquire a strong sense of self and be able to express their emotions with the appropriate language support and so enable them to feel confident and capable in managing everyday situations.

Deaf young people themselves also need direct support. NDCS’s Healthy Minds programme aims to provide support for deaf children to develop good emotional well-being. More information about Healthy Minds is available on the NDCS website at: http://www.ndcs.org.uk/family_support/positive_parenting_families/emotional_health_and_wellbeing/healthy_minds.html

Access

We know that not all children and young people who need mental health services are accessing them.

Question: How can we get the right support to children and young people who need it, and at the right time?

NDCS would like to see increased deaf awareness at all levels of mental health services. Information and referral pathway should be devised for each local area and ideally set out within the Local Offer. Again, as deafness is a low incidence disability, many GPs, social workers and other health professionals may have a poor understanding of the implications of deafness for deaf children’s mental health and well-being.

Whilst there are a small number of specialist CAMHS for deaf children, they are only able to deal with 364 referrals a year and it’s remit is limited to deaf children with severe mental illness. We also understand that support is also restricted to those with, for example, a severe or profound hearing loss or who communicate in sign language. In addition, currently, there is very little awareness of the availability of this specialist support.

NDCS would like to see these specialist deaf CAMHS take on a wider role with a focus on engagement and collaboration with mainstream services and a wider group of deaf children.

Hospital and crisis services

Even with effective early intervention and prevention, we know that some young people will require intensive support such as hospital treatment or crisis care.

Question: What practical steps could be taken to improve their experience of hospital and crisis care?

Greater consultation and research with young deaf people and their families to better understand current provision in the UK. Views of this low-incidence group are not likely to be captured as part of any generic consultations or focus groups.

How the system works

Commissioning

Despite the obvious importance of children and young people’s mental health, CAMHS has been described as a ‘Cinderella service’.

Question: How can it be ensured that children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing is prioritised in strategic planning and commissioning?

Through research and consultation with young deaf people and their families, a forum representing their views will greatly benefit planning and commissioning.

Transition

We know transition, both from CAMHS to Adult Mental Health Services and across different parts of the system, is a problem for many young people.

Question: What practical steps can be taken to improve this?

A specialised team supporting transitions needs to be created which can be the link between children and adult services. NDCS is working with the Clinical Reference Group, NSG England, to help ensure this is a priority.

Shared outcomes

Feedback suggests there is often broad consensus about what we want to achieve for children and young people, but confusion about where responsibility lies.

Question: How can we achieve shared ownership of children and young people’s mental health outcomes across the system?

Empower families and young people with accessible information about where responsibility lies, and the actions they can take if they need support with mental health and well-being. Examples of possible resources are available on the NDCS website at http://youngpeople.ndcsbuzz.org.uk/mylifemyhealth

Ensure there is a framework in place to hold local authorities and health services to account if this information is not included within their Local Offer or if these services are not jointly commissioned, as required under the Children and Families Act 2014.

Integration

We know that there are sometimes problems in the way that services addressing mental health issues in children and young people work together.

Question: What practical steps can be taken to improve integration across services working with children and young people’s mental health issues?

A referral pathway promoted with relevant organisations working together will ensure that all expertise are on hand and accessible to develop appropriate services in this way.

Data and standards

Data collection

We have received feedback that the collection of data can be a significant time burden on professionals.

Question: What practical steps could be taken to improve the process of collection?

NDCS is surprised by this question as, in our experience, there is a real absence of data on deaf children who experience mental health difficulties.

The absence of this data makes it harder to commission and provide services effectively. We believe that the cost associated with this is greater than any burden involved in data collection. This remains a significant challenge in relation to low incidence disabilities such as deafness.

Information sharing

We know that there are sometimes barriers to timely and appropriate sharing of information between professionals and organisations at local level.

Question: Can you point to any good practice and/or innovative solutions in your area?
National Deaf CAHMS work across England to provide bespoke and expertise services to young deaf people needing vital support.

Vulnerable groups

Extra barriers for vulnerable groups

We know that there are some groups of children and young people who are particularly vulnerable and find it harder to access mental health services (e.g. victims of sexual exploitation, learning disabled children, looked after/adopted children, young offenders).

Question: What practical steps could be taken to help particularly vulnerable children and young people to access mental health services?

Our response sets out the steps that can be taken to support deaf children and young people. Key actions are improved training to all mainstream practitioners on the implications of deafness for deaf children’s mental health and well-being, as well as an improved knowledge of referral pathways.

In addition, it’s vital to ensure that all information is accessible – particularly for deaf children and young people –and translated into sign language. NDCS has produced advice on making information accessible to deaf young people, which is available on the NDCS website at: www.ndcs.org.uk/document.rm?id=9325.

Please return completed forms by:

Email to: CYPMHTaskforce@dh.gsi.gov.uk

Or

Write to: Department of Health

CYPMH & Wellbeing Taskforce

5th Floor (Area B)

Skipton House

80 London Road

London

SE1 6LH

FACTSHEET xx

Test

2014-12-10

Ian Noon

Department of Health