Views wanted on providing long term emotional support in North Yorkshire
It's targeted for children and young people across the county
A public consultation starts today (10 September) about a long term partnership to deliver a targeted emotional wellbeing service for children and young people across North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire County Council currently commissions the emotional wellbeing service as part of The Healthy Child Programme, which is a child and family health promotion programme. Some of the healthy child services are for all children, and some are targeted to those in need, such as substance misuse and the emotional wellbeing service.
NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (NYCCG) also commissions a school-based emotional wellbeing service for children and young people in North Yorkshire.
The council are consulting over whether to enter an agreement with the CCG which would see them working in partnership over a longer period of five years, as opposed to tendering the contract every two to three years.
The authority says this longer term arrangement would potentially allow the council and the CCG to work together more effectively in delivering emotional and mental wellbeing services to children and young people. For instance, by providing clear and consistent information for children, young people and their families and carers on how to access early support and specialist advice. It is anticipated it would help strengthen children and young people’s positive experience of the service.
It adds that extending the service involves entering an agreement under Section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 with the CCG. Whilst the proposed partnership would initially be put in place for a total of five years, it would be reviewed after three. Under the agreement, the county council would enter into a partnership agreement with the CCG, with the clinical commissioning group taking lead commissioning responsibility.
North Yorkshire County Councillor Janet Sanderson, Executive Member for Children's Services said:
“A five year arrangement would allow the agencies involved to work together more effectively to deliver emotional and mental wellbeing services to children and young people in need of support.
“We believe it will put the service on a more solid footing and enable us to provide a more holistic, joined-up service for children and young people in the county who need targeted support.
“The aim of the service is to improve outcomes for children and young people’s mental health by strengthening the range of mental health support available.
“We hope that working in this way will help improve the numbers of children and young people reporting good emotional health in our biannual school based survey, Growing up in North Yorkshire.
“For example, there will be clear information on how to access early support, and where and how to get specialist help if required. We hope that children and young people will have a good experience with the service and feel safe, involved and respected.”
The range of services will include:
- Early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate emotional and mental health difficulties, primarily around low mood and anxiety.
- Contributing to schools developing a whole school approach towards emotional and mental well-being through the delivery of training.
The consultation over whether the council should enter into the Section 75 agreement begins on September 10 and ends on November 8 this year.
NYCCG would act as the lead NHS commissioner on behalf of the Vale of York (VoY) CCG, and Bradford and Craven (BaC) CCG.
Louise Wallace, North Yorkshire’s Director of Public Health explains:
“We hope to be able to provide a more holistic and consistent emotional health and wellbeing service to those young people in need of support.
“As always, the overall aim is to improve outcomes for young people. Having a longer-term agreement with the CCG would enable us to monitor outcomes and measure the performance of the service with greater consistency, against a baseline which would be established at the start of the contract.
“Working in partnership will allow us to target resources more efficiently and plan services based on a shared vision and objectives.”
Dr Peter Billingsley, GP Clinical Lead from NHS North Yorkshire CCG, said:
"We welcome the opportunity to create an even closer partnership between the NHS and local authority to deliver effective emotional and mental wellbeing services for our children and young people.
“It feels that now, more than ever, is the time to work more closely and importantly, enhance the experience of the service for those who need that extra support."
To give your views about whether North Yorkshire County Council and NHS North Yorkshire CCG should enter into a Section 75 agreement to deliver the targeted emotional wellbeing service, please fill in the survey at www.northyorks.gov.uk/ehs75
You can also email EmotionalHealth.AndWellbeing@northyorks.gov.uk
If you are having difficulty accessing the information online, or need the information in an alternative format or language, please contact North Yorkshire County Council on 01609 780780.
The consultation closes on 8 November 2021.
Subject to the outcome of this consultation, the agreement would be scheduled to be in place on 1 April 2022.