Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Director of Public Health which updated the Committee on the work of the Children and Young People’s  Mental Health Partnership which was accompanied by a presentation delivered by Andrea Bracewell, Advanced Practitioner in Public Health and Diane Foster, Public Health Practitioner (for copy of report and presentation see file of minutes).

Andrea Bracewell, Advanced Practitioner, informed the Committee that national data indicated that the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people was 1 in 5, which compared to 1 in 9, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. She explained the range of socio-economic factors which impact on poor mental health and that County Durham has approximately 1 in 4 children living in relative poverty. These circumstances increase the risk to young people of developing mental health difficulties that can reduce their life opportunities.

Key national headline facts were presented including that having a probable mental health disorder was more common in the 11-16 age range than in younger children. In the 8-16 age group, rates of probable mental health disorder were similar for males and females, however, in 17-25 year olds, rates were twice as high for females than males.  More than 1 in 4 young people aged 8 -16 years with a probable mental health disorder were from families unable to afford out of school activities.

The Committee noted that County Durham is within the top 40% of the most deprived local authorities in England, that over 3% of school pupils have additional social, emotional and mental health needs and over 14% of pupils receive support for special educational needs. Developments were underway to improve the landscape, such as the requirement for all schools to have a mental health lead.

An NHS funded programme of support was available to schools through Mental Health Support Teams and the Family Hubs programme provided early help through pregnancy and the early years with a focus on the first 1000 critical days. The offer included supporting parent / infant relationships, infant feeding and help for dads-to-be. 

Diane Foster, Public Health Practitioner, outlined the functions of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Partnership, which was a multi-agency partnership, aiming to drive participation and engagement with young people and families, across all aspects of mental health and emotional wellbeing.  ‘Experts by Experience’ ie a parent/carer and a young person, were co-chairs of the partnership and they added value through sharing their lived experiences.

The Committee noted that the work of the partnership was based on the ‘Thrive’ model and the Advanced Practitioner outlined the five mental health and emotional wellbeing categories within the needs-led approach.

Information was also provided on the support in education settings including the development of ‘Anxious About School’ guidance, the Piece of Mind Teams and Emotional Health and Resilience Teams who were dedicated teams within the Family Health Service who provide a universal offer to schools to support young people whilst waiting for onward referral.  Rainbow Guides were circulated to schools and the wider community as an easy-to-use guide to accessing support for mental health and emotional wellbeing.

In conclusion, the Advanced Practitioner spoke of how the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Partnership will continue to promote the support available, with a focus on early intervention, prevention and resilience building. Future work will consider the changing environment and the additional pressures being placed on children and young people, including through social media. Actions will be informed by the views of young people for a person-centred approach and the schools offer will be reviewed to ensure parity across all schools.

Ann Whitton, Overview and Scrutiny Officer, referred the Committee to the Consett Locality Pilot which aimed to improve mental health support from an experience and outcomes perspective, and she informed members that an evaluation of the pilot will be brought to the Committee in due course.

The officers were thanked for their informative presentation and the Chair invited questions and comments.

Councillor Crute thanked the team for breadth of the work and whilst recognising that the key determinants of mental health were complex Councillor Crute, was pleased to see the hard work being undertaken to make progress.

Co-opted member, Prof. Ciesielskawelcomed the input of Experts by Experience in the Mental Health Partnership, to ensure first-hand knowledge and experience informs activities going forward. Prof. Ciesielska commented on the links between mental health and socio-economic vulnerability, stating that people often reach out to the voluntary sector and she asked for information on what involvement the partnership had with the voluntary sector. The Public Health Practitioner confirmed that the voluntary sector was represented on the partnership and within its sub groups and she clarified that the partnership encouraged close work with the Voluntary and Community Sector Alliance.

As an example of the work, the Public Health Practitioner referred to the Consett pilot, where extensive work was carried out within the community to ensure the right communication systems were set up to enable all organisations with links to young people to work collaboratively.  Lessons learnt and good practice from the pilot will be used to inform future planning. The Public Health Practitioner added that the holistic approach is one the partnership’s strengths which will be used to influence the wider determinants.  In addition the Experts by Experience group were supported by the voluntary sector.

Councillor Varty remarked on the enlightening data which had been included in the report in respect of the prevalence of mental health conditions in County Durham’s children and young people and she requested that the information be included on the School Governor Hub as School Governors were often the first point of contact for parents. The Advanced Practitioner thanked Councillor Varty for the useful suggestion which would be considered.

Councillor Rooney referred to the Piece of Mind Team and asked why the service was available to only 40% of schools in the county. The Public Health Practitioner explained that NHS England funding was limited therefore the roll out of the service had taken a phased approach, however, the Emotional Health and Resilience Team offer, which worked alongside the Piece of Mind Team, was universally available.

Councillor Coult welcomed the expectation that all schools will have a member of staff trained as a Senior Mental Health Lead, however, she highlighted that this could place additional pressure on staff. The Advanced Practitioner acknowledged the concern which had been considered and she clarified that the role was a leadership role and the implementation of the work will be a whole school approach.

Councillor Coult raised concern at the figures relating to young people who self-harm. She recognised the increasing challenges to young people’s mental health such as child poverty, peer pressure and the number of young people who access smart phones and social media from an increasingly young age. The Advanced Practitioner shared the concern however she pointed out that social media was a ‘double-edged-sword’ as it could also be a useful tool to increase the reach of messages. 

Councillor Coult stressed the importance of engaging with young people to understand their perspectives and she asked if the work of the partnership considered pupil voice feedback.  The Advanced Practitioner confirmed mechanisms were in place to capture student voices as well as feedback from teachers.

A survey was to be carried out in the near future on self-harm, which will provide information from teachers regarding their knowledge and confidence to deal with incidents of self-harm. The Advanced Practitioner explained Student Voice surveys took place in years 7, 9, and 11. In addition, Peer Mentors enabled young people to support each other in schools and the mentors work together in a focus group which then feeds into the work of Investing in Children and Durham Youth Council. In response to a question from Councillor Coult as to whether there were plans to extend the Student Voice survey to other year groups, the Public Health Practitioner clarified that the current practice was to survey the same pupils, biannually, however she would make enquiries as to whether there were plans to extend the survey.

Councillor Deinali asked how the partnership linked with the service provided by the Rapid Response Team. The Public Health Practitioner stated that the Rapid Response Team aimed to support young people who are at risk of being admitted into hospital due to mental health crisis and the Rapid Response Team works with the ‘Getting More Help’ sub-group of the partnership has which focused on accessing the right help at the right time, to avoid crisis situations. 

Councillor Deinali echoed previous comments by members of the Committee on the breadth and depth of the work and she requested further information, in due course, on the impact of the actions and services being put in place.  The Advanced Practitioner agreed to provide evaluation of data on outcomes, in the future.

Concluding the item, the Chair informed the Committee that the ‘3 Dads Walking’ were passing through the region. The dads, who all lost daughters to suicide were walking 300 miles to raise funds for Papyrus, Prevention of Young Suicide and to highlight the impact of mental health on young people and their families.

Resolved:

The Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Acknowledged and endorsed the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Partnership.

b)    Noted the contents of the report.