Children and young people, parents, carers and health and social care professionals in Gloucestershire are being asked to share their experiences of mental health and wellbeing support to help improve future experiences for children and young people.
Feedback will be gathered via a series of surveys over a four-week period. Following this, a report will be published sharing the feedback from patients, family and carers and healthcare professionals. This feedback campaign is part of the Trailblazer Programme, which involved the NHS in Gloucestershire successfully securing £5m in funding to set up mental health support in schools and improve specialist children’s mental health services.
Helen Ford, Programme Director for Children’s Mental Health and Maternity at NHS Gloucestershire CCG said:
“We are determined to ensure that every child or young person in Gloucestershire is equipped with the right information and tools to support their mental health and wellbeing and that those who are identified as needing additional support, can access services that are appropriate to their needs in a timely manner.
“An important step towards improving mental health and wellbeing support for our younger generation is to work in partnership with young people and their families, to ensure everyone gets the support that work for them, at the right time and in the right place.”
Children, young people, parents and carers and health and social care professionals are being consulted to help mental health service leads make changes and improve experiences for young people who feel they may be struggling with a mental health difficulty.
Feedback will also help improve support for parents and for professionals working with young people and potentially signposting or referring into specialist services.
An important aim of the surveys is to understand how children and carers would want to be involved in future discussions and decision making through virtual forums, ensuring the patient ‘voice’ remains at the heart.
Sarah Birmingham, Head of Children and Young People’s Services at Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “We’re really keen to hear the voices of different groups of young people as well as parents, carers and professionals – not just those who are known to our services.
“We recognise that sometimes people, particularly young people, feel hesitant about giving their views but we would urge people to come forward and take a few minutes to share their feedback with us.
“These surveys will provide us with an insight into what people need from children and young people’s mental health services and really will make a difference to the way support and care is improved.”
You can access the surveys here: https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/camhs-surveys
