North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has welcomed the Government’s announcement of a Green Paper on improving mental health support for children and young people.
Around 1 in 10 children in the UK have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, such as anxiety or an eating disorder – which can have a devastating impact on their physical health, their relationships and their future prospects. The Green Paper announced by the Government will focus on earlier intervention and prevention to make sure young people fulfil their potential.
The Government has invested £1.4 billion in mental health services for children and young people, and have set up a scheme to train staff in schools & raise awareness to enable them to know how to deal with pupils suffering with mental health issues.
However, the Government wants to go further and has outlined its plans to improve mental health support by:
- Investing £215m to fund collaboratively delivered Mental Health Support Teams. These will be made up of additional trained staff, supervised by NHS specialists, to provide support in or near schools and colleges for children and young people with emerging and more moderate needs. Several thousand people are also expected to be recruited over the next five years to form these new teams.
- Ensuring every school will have a designated, senior person responsible for co-ordinating counselling services and other forms of mental health support. The green paper will also outline plans to provide a training package of up to £95 million from 2019 to cover costs until all schools and colleges have had chance to train a lead.
- Pledging faster access to high quality NHS services for those with serious mental health problems. The government aims to pilot a new waiting time standard in some areas for children to be seen within four weeks by a psychiatrist or other mental health professional if they need it.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “I absolutely share the Government’s commitment to improving mental health provision for children and young people. I am pleased to see the Government investing strongly to ensure that all children and young people have access to mental health support.”
