Topic Report: Children and young people 2023

Suggestions and recommendations for action were collated both directly from stakeholders engaged in interviews and surveys and from the analysis carried out for this report.

These were presented according to themes as identified in the qualitative study, although there was overlap between themes. They were further categorised as either strategic or operational and it would be worth considering which group each recommendation falls into.

A full list of the recommendations is available in the full needs assessment and also available on request.

These were suggestions and recommendations that would typically require new policy or changes to policy and/or new investment or changes to existing investment profiles.

They would be longer-term aspirations and could cross services. Strategic recommendations would usually be decided at board/executive committee level.

These were suggestions and recommendations that related to existing services and would require a change or addition to an existing service model.

Any investment would likely to be minimal and usually within the discretion of the service in question. They would likely be service-specific, short-term and decided at internal service meetings.

Recommendations included:

• an increased national focus on the recruitment of staff in a variety of roles such as Health Visiting, School Nursing, Community Paediatrics and others as well as increased local recruitment of staff e.g. CAMHS Buddies- alternative avenues for recruitment need to be explored e.g. providing apprenticeships or more opportunities for student Health Visitors
• as well as recruitment, a greater emphasis on the retention of staff is needed by providing opportunities for development, training opportunities and career progression
• identifying alternative mental health support offers outside of CAHMS e.g. education for parents, mental health support teams and the training of existing clinical staff to provide counselling
• co-location of services to support joint working/integration and also to provide CYP and parents with a single point of access. This may require a review of current estates arrangements
• continued use of digital and virtual means of communication but not to the exclusion of face-to- face appointments, particularly where safeguarding, digital exclusion and increased isolation might be issues
• supporting and promoting the resilience of CYP and their parents by encouraging opportunities for community socialisation, increased training for parents as to how to identify and manage low mood and anxiety
• greater collaboration and input is needed from communities e.g. services aiming to collect feedback from culturally diverse groups to ensure and identify new ways to increase service accessibility and equity