Government attempts to link schools and CAMHS deemed 'a success'
Gabriella Jozwiak
Monday, February 13, 2017
Attempts to improve links between schools and child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are largely working, a study has found.
The Department for Education initiative, first announced in December 2015, has seen £1.5m invested to improve joint working between school settings and CAMHS in 255 schools.
The scheme involved a single person being named as children's mental health lead in each school and taking on responsibility for mental health, and developing closer relationships with CAMHS. Last year, following the success of the pilot, it was extended to more schools.
An evaluation of the pilot found the scheme improved schools' knowledge and awareness of mental health issues, their understanding of referral routes, and boosted school leads' confidence in supporting children and young people.
Schools also reported improvements in the frequency and quality of communication between them and NHS children and young people's mental health services (CYPMHS).
The report said: "This closer communication was widely considered to have resulted in improvements to the quality of referrals from schools to NHS CYPMHS."
However, the report found no evidence that the pilot had impacted upon overall numbers of referrals to specialist NHS CYPMHS.
It also pointed out that the scheme's intention to create a single-person contact point in each school had varied success, as a result of some schools being unable to invest resources.
The report said: "Some areas had a single named worker in NHS CYPMHS working with their counterpart in school(s), while others assigned time from multiple workers, and others still stopped short of a ‘single point of contact' model altogether, instead offering a central point of access to specialist support.
"These variations were driven in part by capacity issues - some areas were unwilling to commit to a level of resource that would be unsustainable beyond the pilot programme."
Research published last week by charity Place2Be and the National Association of Head Teachers found more than half of school leaders across England and Wales struggle to find mental health services for pupils who need help.
Further Education colleges have also reported problems, with a study published earlier this month by the Association of Colleges suggesting three quarters of colleges have been forced to refer students with mental health crises to accident and emergency, due to a lack of resources.
In January the government announced it will conduct a review of CAMHS. It has said it will invest £1.4bn to improve the services by 2020.