The document, New Horizons, represents the Department of Health's vision for a higher quality mental health service, with an emphasis on early intervention and more personalised support.
The document proposes a youth mental health service aimed at 14- to 25-year-olds which would offer a range of interventions tailored to individual needs and delivered in non-clinical settings such as schools and colleges.
Sarah Brennan, chief executive of Young Minds, welcomed the recognition of a need to improve the transition from adolescence to adulthood for mental health sufferers, but raised concerns over plans for a new service.
"What we need are improved communications and relationships between child and adolescent mental health services and adult mental health services, not new structures. This could just create yet another point of transition for mental health sufferers," she said.
But Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "The idea of a youth mental health service is a good one. The transition to adulthood is when many mental health problems can become embedded. Most people with a mental health problem have been diagnosed by the age of 18.
"It's much more sensible, not to mention cost effective, to help people stay well than pick up the pieces later on in life when their problems have become more serious."
The deadline to respond to the consultation is 15 October 2009.
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