Have your say on improving Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health support for Children and Young People
16 Dec 2022 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board and Northumberland County Council are consulting on how to strengthen support for children and young people with emotional wellbeing and mental health needs.
Nationally, referrals to services for mental health and emotional wellbeing support have been rising with Northumberland being no exception.
Northumberland’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy for Children and Young People 2022-25 sets out the local partnership’s vision for the future and how it will address the need for children and young people to receive the most appropriate support at the right time.
NHS, public health services and practitioners who work across education, health and social care and representatives from the voluntary sector have all worked together with young people and their families to produce the draft strategy.
Now, further views are being sought before the final strategy is presented to the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board for approval.
Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Children’s Services, Northumberland County Council, said: “We are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our children and young people by working together as partners in education, health, social care and voluntary services to provide support that wraps around the individual and family.
“There is a huge amount of brilliant work already taking place, but we want to continue to build on that and this consultation gives everyone in Northumberland the opportunity to help shape future services.”
Rachel Mitcheson, Director of Place and Integrated Services – Northumberland, North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “In early 2020, the pandemic changed our world. The way we lived, spent time with friends and family, the way we learned and the way we worked all changed.
“Our daily lives are now returning more and more to life pre-pandemic, however the impact of the pandemic on the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people continues to be felt.
“Even before the pandemic the prevalence and complexity of children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health needs had been increasing, often leading to multiple issues impacting on different aspects of their life and the families and communities in which they live.
“Together, we want to empower and enable children and young people themselves, their families and practitioners who support them to work together to promote resilience, independence, good health and mental wellbeing.”
Audrey Kingham, Joint Interim Director of Children’s Services, and Director of Education and Skills, Northumberland County Council, said: “Key to this strategy is making sure young people get the right support they need at the right time from the right people, so that fewer children and young people will require support at higher levels of intervention.
“Schools are where most children and young people spend the majority of their time when they are not at home and there is a growing body of evidence to show that school-based interventions are effective in supporting mental health and wellbeing.
“This draft strategy is the result of conversations with young people, families and practitioners about how we can best support them to deal with life’s ups and downs and we would your welcome your feedback.”
This consultation will run until February 4 2023.
You can read the draft strategy
here