Children and young people's mental health services are to be transformed as Oxfordshire becomes one of 25 trailblazer areas across the country that put the NHS and schools together to transform mental health care.
This commitment to improving children's mental health support will benefit about half a million children in England.
Under the scheme, the NHS is uniting with schools and colleges in 25 areas across England to provide expert mental health support for up to half a million pupils a year – part of the Government's ambitious plans to transform children and young people's mental health through the NHS Long-Term Plan. The county's Clinical Commissioning Group is one of the organisations chosen to be a trailblazer.
New Mental Health Support Teams will support a population of more than 470,000 children and young people. They will be based in and near schools and colleges, with support starting from next year. The first cohort of new staff are on track to begin their training at seven universities nationwide in January.
One in nine young people aged five to 15 had a mental health condition in 2017 and teenagers with a mental disorder are more than two and a half times more likely to have a mental disorder in adulthood.
i said:
"I very much welcome this initiative. The commitment to improving children's mental health is important and I am pleased that Oxfordshire has been selected as one of the trailblazers. I look forward to the Clinical Commissioning Group detailing what they are going to do and the impact it is expected o have within the county and within this constituency."
