London,
20
December
2018
|
10:23
Europe/London

Camden successfully bids for young people’s mental health funding

Camden has successfully bid for funding to help provide early intervention mental health services for young people, with NHS England awarding Camden Clinical Commissioning Group additional funding of £3,474,579.

In collaboration with the Council, Camden CCG, in partnership with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, will deliver two pilot schemes for the Community Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Focused on building on the established CAMHS school service, provided by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, a new Mental Health Support Team (MHST) will target young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties as well as supporting vulnerable groups who are at increased risk of developing mental health problems. There will be two MHSTs, each covering 15 primary and secondary schools.

CAMHS waiting times in Camden have been reducing, but there is variation across services. The second pilot will see a single point of access where all referrals are reviewed by a multidisciplinary team and allocated to an appropriate CAMHS team.

This new ‘triage plus’ model will offer a range of services including increasing the frequency of joint intake meetings; offer welcome phone calls with the aim of reducing did not attend and cancellation rates and an initial appointment within one week of the referral being received and a second appointment within four weeks.

Councillor Angela Mason, Cabinet Member for Best Start in Life said:

“These successful bids for over £3 million will help us, with our partners, deliver the best available mental health care and support to Camden’s young people.

“The vital importance of the mental health of our nation’s young people is becoming increasingly better understood, as is the requirement to ensure that we provide a comprehensive range of services to help those young people most in need of our support.

“In Camden we take pride in our early intervention approach across a wide range of health issues. By putting in place-targeted resources, and working with partners, we are able to often identify and assist individuals at an early stage, preventing greater problems from developing later in life.

“Securing this funding is further vindication that Camden’s way of doing things works and demonstrates our commitment to fighting for every penny for Camden residents.”

Dr Martin Abbas, Swiss Cottage Surgery and Camden CCG Governing Body Children’s Sponsor said: “I am delighted that Camden has been successful in its bid to be a trailblazer in this important work for children’s mental health in schools.

“This will build on our innovative and transformational work and I look forward to continuing our partnership with Camden Council and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, for the benefit of young people in the borough of Camden.”