New scheme to help improve mental health of school pupils

Several schools across Nottinghamshire are taking part in a new plan to help improve children's mental health.
One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.
One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.

Nottingham North and East and Rushcliffe are the areas in Nottinghamshire taking part in the pilot scheme which will see each area have a designated mental health lead, trained new mental health support teams and a new four-hour waiting time target.

It is hoped the new scheme will speed up access to specialist services and make expert advice available to those who need it the most.

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The three Nottinghamshire areas are among 25 regions nationwide taking part in the pilot, which will introduce new mental health services to a population of nearly 500,000 children and young people.

One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.
One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.

One in eight children and young people aged between five and 19 had a mental disorder in England in 2017 according to NHS Digital.

The plans for this new pilot are a joint project between the Departments of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Department for Education.

The DHSC has selected seven institutions to train up to 8,000 new mental health practitioners beginning in January.

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Each of the 59 mental health support teams will support about 8,000 young people across a cluster of 20 schools and colleges.

The scheme was made possible by the extra £20.5 billion being investing in the NHS.

The Government's impact assessment estimates the schemes will cost about £110 million up to 2020-21, rising to £1.59 billion by 2027-28 to roll it out across the country.