Mental Health Solicitors

Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah has told a meeting at the Anna Freud Centre in London that single contact points in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) can maintain “an open channel of communication” and act as the bridge between a school and CAMHS.

Mr Gyimah was invited to the meeting to speak about single point of contact pilots and the importance of early intervention in mental health in schools. He told the meeting:

“Eighteen months ago, the picture for local mental health provision for children and young people was not great. There were difficulties in making ‘good’ referrals. There were long waiting times before an initial assessment could be made – and, then, there was sometimes yet another wait for young people before specialist support was available.

“This all resulted in added worry and anxiety for young people and their families, who were already in a stressful situation coping with a mental health problem.

“The work of the cross-government task force focused on how we could improve the experiences of these young people and their families. Through the taskforce, we heard that there were many frustrations experienced between schools and specialist services when a child needed treatment.

“CAMHS felt schools did not understand them – and sometimes schools would refer children for treatment, even where it wasn’t right for the child.

“Schools felt that their pupils weren’t always getting the help that they needed. In short, the link between schools and CAMHS was not working. I am sure the picture I have painted is one you can all recognise.

“It is certainly one that those involved in the taskforce – particularly the children and young people who spoke about their experiences of the system, would recognise.”

Mr Gyimah said that, in the coming months, the government would be working with NHS England, the Anna Freud Centre and evaluators to scale up the single contact point in other areas.

“This means working with more schools – including those that are harder to reach,“ he added.

The single contact point is one contact in CAMHS, who will work with a number of schools in their area, acting as the “go to” person for the schools. Under the system, each school nominates a named staff member to interact with the appointed CAMHS contact.

Teachers in each school can contact the named school staff member whenever they need to, which makes it easier for teachers to voice their concerns with someone they know and trust, so they don’t feel out of their depth, said Mr Gyimah, adding that teachers “aren’t mental health professionals – nor should we expect them to be”.

“Yet we can’t escape the fact that young people do spend lots of their time in school and so teachers do spot things,” he said.

“Often parents come to teachers to voice concerns about their child, too, so it is vital we make it as easy as possible for teachers to interact with CAMHS.

“These pilots have started us on the road to more collaborative working, improved conversations and better relationships, ultimately leading to improved outcomes for children and their families,” he added.

This government has made available £1.4 billion in additional funding for mental health care and Mr Gyimah said that the collaborative approach of the pilots is a key way people can – and have – come together “to make best use of the funding available”.

Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is the UK’s leading provider of Legal Aid mental health services – and can advise mental health patients on their rights under the Mental Health Act, as well as access to NHS services and detention under the Mental Health Act.

In some cases, Duncan Lewis may be able to advise the nearest relative or carer of a mental health patient on issues such as treatment reviews, where appropriate.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and our mental health lawyers are available at short notice for appointments at police stations and hospitals across the country.

For expert legal advice on UK mental health law, call Duncan Lewis mental health solicitors on 0333 772 0409.