Innovation Exchange event - Digital technology to help prevent and support children and young people who are at risk of or experiencing a mental health crisis.                                                                               

NHS Midlands and NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support unit in conjunction with the East and West Midlands AHSNs, are hosting an Innovation Exchange event on Thursday 10 November, 10:30 – 12:30.

The event provided an opportunity to inform commissioners and providers of mental health services, from across the Midlands region, about potential solutions and how they support children and young people with mental health crises.

Needs definition

In January 2019, The NHS Long Term Plan made a renewed commitment to expand mental health services for children and young people, reduce unnecessary delays and deliver care in ways that young people, their families and carers need.  It aimed to provide an extra 345,000 children and young people, aged 0-25, with opportunities to get support when they need it, in ways that work better for them.  It also wanted to make it easier and quicker for people of all ages to receive mental health crisis care.

In its Implementation Plan for 2019/20 – 2023/24, NHS England set out the ambition for 100% of mental health providers to be fully digitised and integrated with other parts of the health and social care system by 2024.  It would also continue to support the development of apps, digitally-enabled models of therapy and online resources to support good mental health and enable recovery.

In direct response to this, the East and West Midlands Academic Health Science Networks Innovation Exchange Programmes, in collaboration with NHS England Midlands Region and the Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit, hosted this event to engage with suppliers of digital solutions which prevent and support children and young people who are at risk of or experiencing a mental health crisis.

Through engagement with key stakeholders, including patients, carers, commissioners and providers of services, we identified a number of scenarios in which children and young people may experience a crisis and confirmed the key challenges.

Scenarios

The event explored the following scenarios in which children and young people in crisis engage with services, to seek help, and times when they are most vulnerable.        

1. When community service provision is closed, and A&E is used as an alternative form of provision (out of hours).
2. When an assessment is carried out in A&E, determining that the child or young person doesn’t need a bed, and they are sent home for a follow up within 5 days by the appropriate community provider.
3. When they are being discharged from mental health inpatient facilities, particularly those that are out of area, having spent time away from their home, parents, carers, siblings, etc
4. .During periods of acute hospital or mental health hospital inpatient stays, complimenting support being provided by clinicians.
5. For parents, carers, siblings of children and young people in contact with services, to prevent perpetuating crisis episodes and associated attendances at A&E, for example.

Resources

You can access the slides from the event here.