VIEWS & OPINION


Mental Health Support Teams are long overdue Comment by LYNN PERRY MBE, CEO of Barnardo’s


It’s no secret that we’re in the grips of a mental health crisis - one that has only intensified in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and threatens to get worse still because of the pressures of the rising cost-of-living. The disruption and uncertainty we have faced has shone a desperately needed spotlight on both physical and mental health.


After the pandemic wreaked havoc on children’s education, home and social lives, the same children are now contending with


the impact of the current financial challenges - both for themselves and their families.


NHS data shows that there are now as many as one in six children aged 6-16 who are thought to have a mental health disorder, rising to one in four for those aged 17-19. Let’s make no mistake: this is threatening the prospects of an entire generation, as mental wellbeing impacts on opportunities both now and in later life. We all have a part to play in promoting health and wellbeing, offering early help and enabling access to support. That could be in the classroom, at home, and further afield through specialist services, such as those run by Barnardo’s. We need the Government, the NHS, local authorities, schools and organisations to work collaboratively if we’re really going to safeguard the mental wellbeing of the next generation.


This year’s Children’s Mental Health Week was a great example of how the wellbeing of our children is becoming more of a national priority. It is long overdue. And, whilst it’s great that we’re all talking about the importance of mental health, now is also the time for action.


We were disappointed that the Government moved away from the keenly anticipated 10-Year Plan for Mental Health. It’s vital that the new Major Conditions Strategy focuses on the specific needs of children and young people – now and in the future. Well-respected psychiatric studies have found that half of all mental health conditions emerge by the age of 14. Identifying those at risk and facilitating early intervention is vital. So, the Government’s strategy must have an explicit focus on children and young people if it is really going to address the youth mental health crisis and improve wellbeing into adulthood.


Over the years, Barnardo’s practitioners have seen a worrying rise in the number of children and young people experiencing poor mental health. A survey of our teams last September found that 88% had seen an increase in the number of young people they help who have mental health concerns.


This wasn’t the first time, either. Research last year by Barnardo’s and King’s College London, also based on surveys of our frontline workers, found that mental health issues were becoming more prevalent. Before the pandemic, 1 in 5 of our practitioners said that mental health was a growing concern, but this rocketed to 7 in 10 by July 2020. By November 2021, concerns remained for 2 in 5 practitioners, revealing early signs of lockdown’s lasting impact. And even now, children and young people continue to face long waits for specialist support.


That’s why Barnardo’s is calling for Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to be urgently rolled out across all schools and colleges in England. MHSTs provide crucial early intervention for children who are experiencing the first warning signs of poor mental health,


March 2023


including low mood, mild to moderate anxiety, and difficulties regulating their emotions. They fill the existing gaps in prevention and early support whilst acting as a crucial link between education, health and community services.


A new report from Barnardo’s ‘It’s Hard to Talk - Expanding Mental Health Support Teams in Education’, underpins just why more MHSTs are needed. It found that not only do children, young people and parents want more mental health provision in education settings, but that MHSTs provide the effective and beneficial support that they are looking for too.


When existing services are at breaking point, MHSTs are a logical solution to provide help before a young person’s mental health deteriorates even further. There are huge waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), with reports of young people waiting months or even years to be seen. The high thresholds to qualify for treatment also mean that a child’s mental health has to get much worse before they qualify for any treatment, which is a truly backwards approach.


There are currently around 400 MHSTs in England providing support to nearly three million children. At Barnardo’s, we deliver MHSTs across England including in Swindon, Morecambe Bay and the Isle of Wight, with more being rolled out this year, delivering one-to- one support, group interventions and promoting wider wellbeing for around 96,000 children and young people.


The Government’s aim is for 36% of schools and colleges to be covered by an MHST by the end of this year. This would provide the service for around four million children and young people from 500 MHSTs.


But unfortunately, this will fall far short of what’s needed. We estimate that it would still leave 6.5 million children without vital school-based support.


So many of the children and young people we help know that extra support is desperately needed. Daisy, 17, from Solihull was treated for anxiety and depression three years ago after a teacher noticed that she was withdrawn and struggling in the classroom. Her school didn’t have a Mental Health Support Team, so Daisy had to wait five months for treatment after being referred to CAMHS. She was supported by her teacher during that waiting time, which included during the pandemic, but this could only be around core teaching duties. Daisy is now advocating for MHSTs to be in all schools and colleges, so others don’t face the battle and the delays that she went did.


The expansion of Mental Health Support Teams is the bare minimum needed if we’re going to provide robust and effective mental health support. As well as MHSTs, Barnardo’s believes every school must have access to a trained and accredited school counsellor. They could provide support for children who have moderate or complex needs, which are not met by the current MHST model, when the young person doesn’t yet qualify for specialist support from CAMHS. This would be another step forward to prevent any child from falling through the cracks in current provision. We do have to be realistic. We do know that the Government can’t do everything, especially in the current economic climate. But we know that rolling out Mental Health Support Teams is the right thing to do for young people today. It is also the right way to safeguard the country’s finances in the future by providing early help and support before young people need more acute and costly NHS treatment. At Barnardo’s we truly believe that, without Mental Health Support Teams in every school and college in England, there is no safety net in place to catch young people who are at crisis point. So, extending this vital service would help to set children and young people on the right path to happy, healthy and positive futures.


www.education-today.co.uk 23


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