Government sets out plans for mental health support teams in schools

In its response to the Children and Young Persons Mental Health Green Paper, published today, ministers announced that hundreds of new mental health workers will work with schools and colleges, with up to 8,000 recruited in the longer-term.

Trailblazers will be set up in some schools and colleges, made up of NHS, schools, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations, to pilot and roll-out mental health support teams.

Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) will treat those with mild to moderate mental health issues in school, and will help children and young people with more severe needs to access the right support and provide a link to specialist NHS services.

A number of higher education institutions in England will offer Education Mental Health Practitioner courses from January, with the first teams working in trailblazer areas from the end of 2019.

The trailblazer areas across the country will test how teams can work with other services and how they can accelerate the wider transformation of mental health care for children and young people.

There will also be designated senior leads for mental health in schools and colleges.

Designated senior leads for mental health in school or college are likely to be an existing member of staff, senior enough to take a strategic overview of the institution’s approach to mental health and wellbeing, including oversight and evaluation of what is already being done.  This can include how to support staff mental health and wellbeing as well as that of pupils, including how we use new technology to aid this.

A consultation will commit to piloting four-week waiting times for access to specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services. These pilots will test the feasibility of these types of waiting times, as well as looking at different models, service types and settings in which this could work.