Children and young people

The needs of children, young people and their families are increasing and changing rapidly - particularly since the pandemic.

Specifically, we are seeing too many young people with self-harm behaviours, disordered eating or anxiety. Our aim is to provide quicker access to a broader range of services across the county, particularly for those conditions that have seen the steepest increases in demand.

We also want to work with system partners to consider how we can prevent young people and their families from needing specialist services, with the aim of providing better support for their emotional health and wellbeing at an earlier stage. The expansion of the Mental Health in Schools Teams (MHSTs) across the county is a very welcome development on this front.

We will improve the range of support that we provide for 18-25 year olds, where there is currently a high level of unmet need. This will include enabling access to therapies and support without the requirement for re-assessments in order to access different services.

We will also improve the smoothness of the transition as young people move into services for adults. Important aspects of this work will include using more open language and sharing more information with young people as they approach the transition, and helping them to become familiar with how adult services work so that they can navigate and use them more effectively. We also aim to provide access to wellbeing and vocational services at an earlier stage for young people, as they can be critical factors in a person's recovery.