Graham Stuart MP encourages constituents to take part in new consultation on children's and young people's mental health.
Fri 12th January 2018
Graham Stuart MP has encouraged Beverley and Holderness residents to take part in a new Department of Health and Social Care consultation on tackling mental health issues in children and young people. The government has launched a new Green Paper which sets out proposals to intervene earlier in mental health cases in the young, in particular by encouraging closer working between the NHS and schools. These proposals will include -
· Senior leads for mental health: Every school and college in England will be incentivised to appoint a designated senior lead for mental health to co-ordinate existing school-based support.
· Mental Health Support Teams: To make available £209 million to fund new collaboratively delivered Mental Health Support Teams to provide support in or near schools and colleges.
· Piloting a four-week wait standard: The Government will pilot a four-week waiting time standard for accessing children and young people’s mental health services.
The Green Paper also contains a number of other proposals to improve support for young people’s mental health and Graham encourages people to give their thoughts on the proposals, which is open until the 2nd March, by visiting - https://engage.dh.gov.uk/youngmentalhealth/
Sharon Japp, Headteacher of Beverley High School, commented: “Additional funding and strategies aimed at improving the mental health of young people are to be welcomed. More support for schools, additional staff in local mental health services and shorter waiting times for accessing specialist services will make a positive difference to the lives of young people and their families.”
Graham said “Improving children and young people’s mental health provision is a priority for the Government and recently there has been unprecedented levels of funding to support real change. While much progress is already being made, serious issues remain across the UK including in my own constituency.
So I welcome this consultation and encourage people to engage with it and make their views known on this vital and topical issue”.
