Young people’s mental health ‘the elephant in the room’ Peterborough GPs told

Peterborough’s clinical commissioning group is looking at ways to support vulnerable children and young people affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mental health issues affecting young people are a concern.Mental health issues affecting young people are a concern.
Mental health issues affecting young people are a concern.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CPCCG), has been looking at ways to support vulnerable children in the wake of the impact of Covid-19 on society.

A new report states that mental health, clinical depression, eating disorders and suicidal intentions have all increased among children and young persons during the coronavirus crisis.
Karlene Allen, Commissioning Manager Vulnerable Communities at NHS Bedfordshire, to members of the CPCCG at its online meeting this week (September 8): “Much has been made of the loss of education by youngsters since March, and I don’t disagree that there’s a crisis looming in the learning gap.

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“However, the elephant in the room is the serious mental health issues facing many of our most vulnerable young people in a post-Covid society.

“We must address these issues now to alleviate the pressure on a system that is already running at near breaking point.

“Since March when Covid-19 first appeared, lockdown and the lack of proper education has seen the numbers of metal health, clinical depression, eating disorders, anxiety and suicidal intentions increase enormously among our most vulnerable children and young persons.

“These are people who already suffer from having poor education, often coming from broken homes and suffering both physically and mentally as a result.

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“The application of coronavirus, lockdown and less education has compounded the matter to a point where, if we’re not careful, we will have a generation of youngsters growing into adults who will rely on future services both financially, emotionally and socially.”

Jessica Bawden, Director of Primary Care at CPCCG said: “Is there work being done for those who need just moderate or mild support? And are there any predictions on just how affected they are or if the work is doing them any good?”.
Ms Allen replied: “We’re working with mental health pathfinder teams to try to gather forecasting data so we can see what future demands will be.

“Additional services have been put in place to develop a one-stop front-door for a single point of referral to third sector support teams across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire specifically for those young persons who need moderate or mild support.

“What we don’t want to do is to bounce these children around the system so that they lose all faith in it.

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“We need to find them focused help, and the use of associations such as ‘Minding Your Head’ who work to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing, and ‘Kooth’ the online mental wellbeing community, has definitely done that.

“What Minding Your Head and Kooth have shown us is where the support networks have been switched off.

“This allows recovery groups to understand exactly what’s required so they can plan for the next phase of post-COVID development between September 2020 and March 2021.

“Our report to the CPCCG and the attached chart clearly shows the past disconnect between the different services, that we’re now bringing together.”

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Dr Jane Collyer, GP for Granta Medical Practices, asked: “What do you believe the specific challenges for mental health and wellbeing are in Peterborough?”

Ms Allen replied: “Mental health issues, both at home and now going back to school, include anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal intentions – all of which have increased in the numbers of calls being received at crisis centres.

“We need to enhance our staff training and emotional wellbeing services so that the very vulnerable groups don’t get bounced around the system as has happened in the past.

“While we must prioritise for learning disabilities, there are specific areas in Peterborough that need to be addressed at the same time.

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“Children with complex and challenging behavioural patterns with neural problems are going to cause real issues in the future if we don’t look at them right now.

“These are children with autism, ADHD and a series of other emotional and mental health issues that means they simply don’t get the best start in life.

“We must also educate mums to understand the dangers of alcohol and smoking in pregnancy – we need to do focussed educational work with young mums explaining the long-term harm to the foetus during pregnancy that can be caused from smoking, drug taking and especially foetal-alcohol awareness.

“Often enough, children with mental health issues are diagnosed with ADHD, when it may be linked to foetal-alcohol abuse.

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“Again, if we pick these issues up really early on, then they won’t end up as costly teenage development problems.

“We’re putting pathways in place, using key-workers to navigate the system – to get the right services at the right places, and at right times so that the needs of these vulnerable children and young persons are met.”

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group commissions health services on behalf of the patients it serves. Along with its GP member practices, they work together collaboratively to determine how the organisation is governed and how commissioning decisions are made.

Mind Your Head was created in 2005 following the personal experiences of its founders whose family member died by suicide in 2004 after many years of suffering from mental health problems. They are a small but mighty team of staff and volunteers who are passionate about mental health and wellbeing.

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Kooth is an online mental wellbeing community whose team provide free, safe and anonymous online support and counselling. The whole team is made up of friendly and experienced individuals who want to help.

The next meeting of the CPCCG is their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 15 September.

Details can be found on their website for members of the public to view the meeting online: https://www.cambridgeshireandpeterboroughccg.nhs.uk/

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