AO Enfield Senior Mental Health Leads: HLP Children & Young People's Mental Health Bulletin - November 2021

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  November 2021 Bulletin
This month’s edition includes:

1. HLP CYP Mental Health – Clinical Lead Recruitment
2. HLP Advancing CYP MH Equalities Shared Learning Webinar 19 October  2021
3. New HLP Guidelines for Educational Professionals for Eating Disorders and BEAT Offer
4. HLP Schools Mental Health Toolkit 2021 – New Race and Mental Health Resources for CYP, Parents/Careers and Educational Professionals
5. Good Thinking – Free Feeling Good Teens App
6. Good Thinking – Become a Digital Health Ambassador
7. Addressing Health Inequalities: Co-Power Project
8. Maudsley Learning: London-Wide CYPMH Training

HLP CYP Mental Health – Clinical Lead Recruitment

We are currently seeking a Clinical Lead for the Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) Programme. Ideally, we are seeking to recruit a senior clinician working within a Mental Health Trust.

The appointed individual will have the exciting opportunity to work collaboratively with senior regional leaders to shape the improvement and transformation of CYPMH services across the capital. This includes working closely with the programme team, Clinical Directors and Programme SROs, providing clinical advice and leadership to shape and support the programme to meet its project deliverables. Applicants should have experience of successfully leading strategic change in a complex environment together with an ability to engage health and care professionals across the whole pathway, alongside patients and carers, to drive improvements in quality and outcomes.

Further details are provided in the role description and person specification.

Applications for the role of Clinical Lead should be supported by a brief Expression of Interest outlining relevant experience and personal reflection on how you would lead and take forward the established role. All applications must include a completed declaration of interest form.

Applications should be submitted to hlp.cyp-programme@nhs.net by 5pm on 25 November 2021. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview for this post which will take place on 02 December 2021.

Queries regarding the prospective role can be directed to Andy Martin, Senior Programme Manager, Healthy London Partnership (andy.martin3@nhs.net).

HLP Advancing CYP MH Shared Learning Webinar 19 October 2021

Healthy London Partnership CYP MH programme hosted a webinar on 19 October on Advancing CYP MH Equalities. It was attended by over 181 delegates from a wide range of organisations across London, which is fantastic. There was a spotlight on mental health and equalities for young people in London through sharing of examples of what services and systems could be doing going forward to support the wellbeing of the young people who face avoidable health inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes. Discussions included actions for local services and systems to take to improve accessibility, cultural competency, and co-production.

The webinar recording can be accessed here.

Thanks to our chairs and speakers which included:

• Antonio Ferreira, Lived Experience Practitioner (Voice of Young People)
  "In my opinion, The Shared Learning Webinar was, without a doubt, incredibly insightful. It was a privilege to co-chair the event. I felt exceptionally inspired by the speakers and the work they had in motion. The webinar offered a sense of comfort; I took away plenty without feeling out of place. That’s the most I can ask for as a young, black man with a mental diagnosis." Antonio spoke of his experience in CYP MH services, and his reflections from a racialised perspective and experience.
• Ian Lewis, Co-chair of the London CYP MH Tackling Inequalities Working Group and HLP CYP MH Local Authority Advisor
  "It was an honour to co-chair this event along with Antonio. We heard a range of really inspiring presentations on how service is considering and addressing health inequalities in child and young people’s mental health provision, both at the strategic level and in direct service delivery in London. We are continuing to take this work forward through our roundtable discussions with senior leaders, and through our CYP MH Tackling Inequalities Working Group."

• Jacqui Dyer MBE – Mental Health Equalities Advisor for NHS England & Improvement and Co-chair of ThriveLDN & Black Thrive (Examples of Culturally competent practice)
• Natalie Creary – Delivery Director, BLACK THRIVE (Lambeth Young Black Men’s Mental Health & Wellbeing: A Co-production Project)
• Nana Owusu – Head of Children & Young People's Services and Mental Health Support Team Clinical Lead, Hammersmith, Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow Mind (HFEH Mind) and Daphine Kajobe – Schools Mental Health Practitioner, Hammersmith, Fulham, Ealing and Hounslow Mind (HFEH Mind) – Addressing CYP Mental Health inequalities: Delivering accessible and culturally responsive services at MIND (Hammersmith, Fulham, Ealing & Hounslow)
• Dale Greenwood – Programme Lead: Mental Health in Schools, East London NHS Foundation Trust – Inequalities through engagement and what we know from the strategic health needs assessments.

New HLP Guidelines for Educational Professionals for Eating Disorders and BEAT Offer for Parents

We have recently published our guidelines for education professionals about treating children and young people with eating disorders. Please see our updated guidelines for more information about spotting the signs of eating disorders, and when to refer children and young people to community eating disorder services. It would be helpful if you could circulate this to relevant colleagues.

Emma Murray, Head Teacher, Seven Sisters Primary School and Centre described the education guidelines as "a very easy to read, visual guideline that supports educationalists in spotting the early signs of eating disorders. Teachers are in a unique situation whereby they can spot the signs early as they see children and young people regularly. These guidelines will assist us in knowing what to look for, in knowing what to say and most importantly knowing where to get support."

Offer for Parents and Carers from Beat – We know that caring for a loved one with an eating disorder can be an isolating experience, that’s why Beat in partnership with London’s 3 Children and Young People’s Mental Health Inpatient Provider Collaboratives and the Healthy London Partnership is offering Nexus, a telephone support service for parents caring for a loved one who has an eating disorder and Solace, an online peer support group where parents can find support and empathy from people who truly understand what they’re experiencing. Parents and carers can access the free programmes by calling Beat’s Supportline directly on 0808 801 0356 or contacting their GP for a referral.

As you may already know from our previous newsletter, we have also updated our guidelines for primary care professionals on treating children and young people with eating disorders, which can be found here.

Dr Tom Coffey OBE GP, Clinical Lead for Mental Health and Children’s Services at Wandsworth CCG and Mayoral Health Advisor said, "as a GP who has used these guidelines, I know first-hand what an excellent and invaluable resource they are to support primary care professionals identify, manage and support children and young people with a suspected eating disorder. Eating disorders are complex with many underlying causes and it’s crucial to recognise the symptoms early on. This short, simple, and very practical tool supports primary care professionals to do this, and I strongly encourage my colleagues across London to use these guidelines."

Guidelines for voluntary sector and charity sector professionals will be finalised for publication shortly so watch this space!

HLP Schools Mental Health Toolkit 2021 – New Race and Mental Health Resources for CYP, Parents/Careers and Educational Professionals

Further exciting news! There is a new Race and Mental Health section of the mental health in schools toolkit which has been created to support young people, parents and carers, and places of education with mental health issues that occur in relation to race. Resources include a range of advice on how to deal with these situations and signposts services that can help. We hope these resources can support you to live healthily while facing these issues and prevent a problem from escalating. The aim of this page is to equip you with the tools to help build that resilience.  Resources include articles, podcasts, books and more. As well as the race section, the entire toolkit has been refreshed in August 2021.

The toolkit, which has received over 42,020 views since it launched in 2018, has been developed in partnership with the Greater London Authority. Supporting children with their emotional wellbeing and mental health is a growing priority for health services and for schools. We encourage school leaders and staff, health care professionals and commissioners to use the toolkit for a wide range of information and guidance on how to promote emotional wellbeing and mental health within schools.

Please do circulate with relevant colleagues and we would love to hear feedback and suggestions for any additional resources you may know of. Please get in touch with us at: hlp.cyp-programme@nhs.net.

Good Thinking – Free Feeling Good Teens App

Feeling Good Teens offer Positive Mental Training audio programmes for 10 to 15 year-olds to develop self-esteem, resilience, and goal-focused motivation. The app is adapted with shorter tracks and a different reader, from the adult app Feeling Good, which is a positive mindset based on a Swedish Olympic sports performance programme.

Feeling Good Teens is part of the ‘Feeling Good for Schools Programme’. 85% of pupils were able to identify benefits such as feeling calm and relaxed, more focus and concentration and less stress. As one pupil said, "Whenever you get upset or angry [the audios] just calm you down".

There are 11 tracks that vary from 3-11 minutes. They help you gain skills for life such as learning relaxation techniques, developing an inner safe place, increasing self-confidence, and boosting self-esteem. Feeling Good’s research in the NHS shows that this can help with letting go of worries, cope better with stress, and sleep better.  

Good Thinking users can access the Feeling Good Teens app for free – find out more here. We encourage you to download and use this fantastic app and share as widely as possible!

Good Thinking – Become a Digital Health Ambassador

The Digital Health Ambassador programme wants young people aged 15-24, who are willing to work closely with expert organisations like Good Thinking, NHS and Public Health England to give young people a voice and to shape shaping research and policy at a local and national level. This has been set up so CYP themselves can influence digital health products and initiatives and help promote young people’s mental wellbeing. The aim is to assist and up-skill CYP so that key decision-makers listen when they speak. Experience is not necessary and there is a flexible engagement structure that allows young people to get involved.

How will Good Thinking support digital health ambassadors?

All Digital Health Ambassadors will develop new digital and research skills and make recommendations to the health leads on how they can further enhance the resources it offers young people. Training sessions will be held on public speaking, content creation, research, and Mental Health First Aid Training.

If you are interested or know anyone who may want to join, please email: info@good-thinking.uk for more information!

Addressing Health Inequalities: Co-PoWeR Project

University of Leeds

The Consortium on Practices for Well-being and Resilience in BAME Families and Communities would like you to get involved in their research project. Co-Power investigates the combined impact of viruses (Covid-19 and Racial discrimination) on practices for wellbeing and resilience across BAMEFC in the UK to create a holistic idea of vulnerabilities damaging BAMEFC.

They would like to know and understand how people have been affected and what they have had to stop/start doing in order to cope. The different research areas can be found on this information poster.

A small token of thanks will be available for participants in the form of a voucher.
If you are interested in getting involved or have any questions, please contact:
co-power@leeds.ac.uk or visit co-power.leeds.ac.uk/.

Please also circulate with relevant colleagues!

Maudsley Learning: London-wide CYPMH Training

Funded by Health Education England

Maudsley Learning is undertaking a scoping exercise and training needs analysis of their London acute providers. See this ‘calling card’ which has been developed to introduce the programme to potential trainees and to highlight the offer and what they require. Also embedded in the calling card is a link to a brief Microsoft Forms survey which they would like you to complete.

They anticipate that feedback from the survey responses will further inform the content and structure of the above.

To find out more about the programme please email:

• LondonMHAcademy@slam.nhs.uk
• David Rice, Programme Manager (david.rice@slam.nhs.uk)
• Anto Ingrassia, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Clinical Lead (anto.Ingrassia@slam.nhs.uk)

If you would like further information on the topics above or would like to subscribe to this bulletin, please email us at:
hlp.cyp-programme@nhs.net

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