Ten schools in Salford will be given a single point of contact for help with pupils with mental health problems
The schools will work with Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Salford City Council and child and adolescent mental health service providers to develop a single point of contact for help with pupils with mental health problems.
The move comes after Salford CCG was one of 22 CCGs nationally and three in Greater Manchester to benefit from a multimillion pound mental health pilot scheme.
The Mental Health Services and Schools Link pilots will help children with anything from bullying concerns to mental illness through professional support in both school and mental health services.
This is to prevent poor emotional health by building resilience in children, supporting them as they change schools, equip young people to deal with situations which may affect their wellbeing, identify any needs and put in place strategies and services to support children and young people.
The contact person will with work with staff to identify issues early and signpost children to the appropriate services.
In Salford, hospital admissions for mental health conditions in children up to age 17 and hospital admissions for self-harm in 10 to 24 year olds is significantly worse than the England average. Funding from the £3 million joint NHS England and Department of Education pilot will mean children and young people in Salford have better access to local, specialist mental health provision and that support is consistent across services
The pilot scheme aims to improve joint working between schools and health services and the work will be evaluated nationally to understand its impact.
The contact person in the schools, who could be any member of school staff, will be responsible for developing closer relationships with a counterpart in Salford Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) to improve knowledge and understanding of mental health issues and to help ensure any referrals are timely and appropriate. They will receive full training to help support the work.
Anthony Hassall, NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) chief accountable officer, said: “We know in Salford there is work to be done to improve our mental health services for children, which is why we are absolutely delighted to have been chosen as one of the pilot areas to trial this new way of the NHS working with schools.
“This scheme will allow us to develop the role of schools and professionals in prevention and early identification so that if there are concerns about a child, or the child even asks for help themselves, the school knows where to turn to get the right support.”
Councillor John Merry, executive lead member for children’s services, learning and skills, said: “This is about treating mental health in the same way as physical health and offering children and young people the kind of support and help they need when they need it. Mental health problems affect school attendance and achievement as well as a child’s happiness and wellbeing and can have long- lasting effects on their family and future if not tackled early.
“We’re delighted Salford Clinical Commissioning Group secured this funding in partnership with us and are pleased to be working with them to pioneer this in our schools. Over 20 other schools were interested in this scheme and we’re looking to work with Salford CCG to see if we can find more funding to extend the pilot to those schools too.”
The 10 schools taking part are:
The Deans Primary School
Swinton
St John’s C.E. Primary School
Swinton
St Ambrose Barlow RC High School
Wardley
Beech Street Primary School,
Winton
Godfrey Ermen Memorial CE Primary School
Eccles
Ellesmere Park High School
Eccles
Primrose Hill Community Primary School
Ordsall
The Canterbury Centre
Pupil Health Referral Unit
Eccles
St. Luke’s CE Primary School
Weaste
and the
Oasis Academy
Salford Quays
