Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health which provided an update on the children and young people mental health, emotional wellbeing and resilience local transformation plan and key areas of work (for copy see file of minutes).

The Committee received a presentation from T Smith, Public Health Advanced Practitioner (for copy see file of minutes).

Members were provided with statistics relating to the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in County Durham and advised of a locally adopted strategic plan which was promoted via Investing in Children.

The Committee heard about recent successful projects including a children and young people’s bereavement service which was provided through the Jigsaw Project and the development and roll out of KOOTH across the County.

Members were advised that the service would continue to work with the Local Transformation Plan group to deliver against its priorities.

Councillor Coult stated that sport was recognised as having the ability to increase confidence in children and physical activity was beneficial in improving mental health.  It could be levelled at all abilities and assisted in diverting young people away from social media, which can be harmful.  She asked if sporting organisations had been consulted to provide any services.  The Public Health Advanced Practitioner confirmed that the Health and Wellbeing Framework included developing sports in schools and Public Health was developing the core offer in culture and sport.

The Public Health Strategic Manager confirmed the benefits of the free offer from sports clubs which helped to provide opportunities to families who could not afford to pay for activities.  Councillor Coult advised that social media played a significant part in effecting the mental health of children and young people and would support anything that got children and young people off social media.

Councillor Charlton asked for comments on staffing and noted only three mental health support teams across 60 schools.  The Public Health Advanced Practitioner confirmed that those were schools already engaged in the mental health programme and although the teams were split into 3 areas, overall it was a large team.

Councillor Charlton asked if the Practitioners Guide, Making Mental Health Everybody’s Business had been delivered to all schools, the Public Health Advanced Practitioner confirmed that the document was available on the schools extranet and a link had been sent to all users signed up to receive email distributions.  The Public Health Strategic Manager confirmed that the document was promoted as much as possible and available on the DSCP website.

Councillor Bainbridge asked about the response to Kooth, the award winning online support service for 11-18 year olds.  The Public Health Advanced Practitioner confirmed that it had only been launched in October and therefore there was no data, but once it had been given time to embed, an update could be provided.  The data would be limited as the user was only required to give a small part of their postcode to protect anonymity.

Councillor Batey was concerned for those schools not engaging in the service and asked if they were predominantly academies. She also asked if some children and young people who were not engaging were home educated. The Public Health Advanced Practitioner confirmed that mental health planning was an important consideration for schools and the Public Health Strategic Manager confirmed that the core offer had been rolled out in all schools including academies, the public health 0-19 service covered all children educated in County Durham.

Councillor Jewell commented that there were a number of complex issues, but he questioned whether it was possible to investigate the cause of the symptoms before they manifested into more serious problems.  He commented on the downside of modern society and pressure on young people and asked if it was possible to have a fully integrated system, bringing all specialists together to rectify the overarching issues.

The Public Health Strategic Manager replied that it was proven that adverse childhood experiences and trauma led to mental health issues.  There were so many complex issues that needed to be addressed and a multi-agency approach ensured young people were treated holistically. 

In response to a question from Mrs Hassoon, the Public Health Advanced Practitioner confirmed that there was a link between deprivation and young people with mental health issues, however only those with a clinical diagnosis were recorded and therefore a number of young people treated for low mood and anxiety were not included in statistics and this was being explored.

Resolved:

That the report and presentation be noted.