Our priorities for young people’s Specialised Mental Health Services
We are committed to continually investing in and improving our leading, high quality specialised mental health services for young people across Thames Valley. We are sometimes known as Tier 4. Our work focuses on making the right support easier to access, for that support to be better locally connected, and for it to be designed around what young people and families need.
Providing flexible, high quality support
We aim to enhance our services in line with the new NHS national specification for children and young people. The specification is a description of who the services are for, what they should provide and how they should work. It means young people can access the right help, at the right time, and in the right place.
This includes offering more care close to home, using evidence-based approaches to care, working across multiple-discipline teams, and expanding the use of digital tools to increase choice and accessibility.
Working together for better outcomes
Young people often need support from more than one service.
We aim to strengthen the way we work with partners such as social care, schools, community children and young people mental health support teams (CYPMHS), and voluntary organisations so that support feels joined-up, coordinated and personalised. This ensures person centred care and support for Looked After Children (LAC) and other high-risk young people who need more intensive help.
Strengthening local specialised support
We are developing and expanding specialised mental health services for children and young people in areas such as Gloucester and Buckinghamshire.
By working with local and voluntary sector partners and connecting with local neighbourhood teams, we aim to increase the range of specialised care services available closer to where families who need our support, live.
Supporting and growing our workforce
To deliver excellent care, we are investing in our people.
This means building a sustainable workforce who have the right skills, delivering improved training and development opportunities for them, and supporting their wellbeing to enable teams to continue to deliver the best possible care and outcomes for our patients.
Our commitment
Across the Provider Collaborative, we are investing in services and working together to build a system throughout Thames Valley so that every young person who needs it, can access timely, compassionate, and specialised mental health support. The aim is for this to be local to them, and in the least restrictive setting.
These priorities provide a path for progress as we develop services that are responsive, inclusive and built around the needs of local communities.
