NHS Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (BCCG) is committed to a new approach to providing care for children and young people’s mental health. The new model will see an integration of the low-level and specialised support for children, young people, their families and the agencies that support them. This will remove barriers, reduce waiting times and create seamless care.

In developing a Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service (CYPMHS), it is our intention to offer a single contract to an organisation(s) that will work closely with local services including GP practices and schools to deliver agreed outcomes.

The CYPMHS will embed the principles of the Thrive model and work towards providing care for those aged 0-25 during the lifetime of the contract.

It is expected that the provider will take referrals through a Single Point of Contact (SPC) from GPs and those working within services for children including education, health and social care and the voluntary/community sector. The provider will begin treatment with all children and young people within 4 weeks of referral.

As per the Future in Mind (2015) key proposals, the service will:

— improve public awareness and understanding about mental health issues for children and young people to tackle stigma and discrimination,

— provide children and young people with timely access to clinically effective mental health support,

— instigate a step change in how care is delivered, moving towards a system built around the needs of children, young people and their families (away from the ‘tiered’ model),

— increase use of evidence-based treatments with services rigorously focussed on outcomes,

— make mental health support more visible and easily accessible for children and young people,

— improve care for children and young people in crisis so they are supported in the right place at the right time and as close to home as possible,

— improve access for parents/carers to evidence-based programmes of intervention and support to strengthen attachment between parent/carer and child, avoid early trauma, build resilience and improve behaviour,

— provide a better offer for the most vulnerable children and young people, making it easier for them to access the support that they need when and where they need it,

— improve transparency and accountability across the whole system to drive further improvements in outcomes,

— ensure professionals who work with children and young people are trained in child development and mental health and understand what can be done to provide help and support for those who need it.

The service aims to provide the best options of care for patients at the most appropriate location for them and ensuring that patients are provided with a timely and accessible service that will avoid unnecessary waits.