CAMHS in Schools is a children and young people’s mental health service commissioned by individual special schools in Stoke-on-Trent, with the aim of delivering evidence-based approaches to wellbeing promotion, prevention and early detection of mental health problems within schools. The service also supports an independent provision for children unable to access mainstream or special schools. A pilot project is also underway in a local primary school.
CAMHS in Schools is a children and young people’s mental health service commissioned by individual special schools in Stoke-on-Trent, with the aim of delivering evidence-based approaches to wellbeing promotion, prevention and early detection of mental health problems within schools. The service also supports an independent provision for children unable to access mainstream or special schools. A pilot project is also underway in a local primary school.
Access
Children and young people’s needs are identified earlier within schools, using screening tools and the informed observations of staff, parents and carers. The service offers child and family centred care co-ordination, in-school intervention groups (such as mindfulness, and social skills and self-regulation programmes) and can signpost and refer to services, improving access by making sure they get the right support at the right time by the right service.
Advice and consultation
Locating children and young people’s mental health practitioners in schools alongside staff has helped collaborative and joined up working. They provide both consultation and advice for classroom staff and opportunities to develop skills through training and adopting a clinical supervision model.
Use of outcome measures
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is completed with pupils, teachers and parents before and after interventions, alongside progress goals. Reports are completed at the end of every academic year for each school and include reporting on number of consults per number of pupils; how many groups have been run, including staff support sessions; training and supervision. These reports will also include outcome data and qualitative feedback from pupils, staff and parents.
What makes this service an example of positive practice?
The model has affected cultural changes across the schools involved, where meeting emotional needs is now seen as part of the day-to-day routine in classrooms. Teachers have more confidence in managing behaviour and supporting emotional wellbeing with less reliance on specialist services. Data can evidence that over a 2-year period there was a 92% prevention of referrals from these schools to specialist CAMHS disability teams. In 2017, the CQC highlighted CAMHS in Schools as ‘outstanding’.
Further details
| Commissioning | Schools within Stoke-on-Trent | ||||||||||
| Providers | Schools and North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust | ||||||||||
| Workforce (WTE) | 0.85 trained therapist/counsellor (band 8a)
1 psychology assistant (band 4) 0.15 principle clinical psychologist 0.2 specialist team service manager 0.2 administrator |
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| Population size | All ages – 253226, under 18 – 56689 (Office of National Statistics 2016 mid-year population estimates for Stoke-on-Trent)
1025 children and young people in schools covered |
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| Age | Age 3 to 20 | ||||||||||
| Caseload | Across 4 schools – 104 pupils accessed a CAMHS into schools intervention; 58 pupils were consulted individually with 113 consultations with staff/parents. 38 accessed a mindfulness in schools programme and 8 accessed a specialist social skills and self-regulation group. | ||||||||||
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| Prevention and resilience – universal and early intervention for at risk | |||||
| Access and advice – consultation lines, triage and signposting | |||||
| Early support and brief interventions | |||||
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