Greater Manchester has one of the
largest student populations in England. There are over 100,000 students
studying at one of the four universities (University of Salford, University of
Manchester, University of Bolton and Manchester Metropolitan). Last week these
four universities and the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership
announced the creation of a dedicated centre to support students with mental
health needs. The announcement was made last Wednesday, which was World MentalHealth Day 2018.
The World Health Organisations (WHO) took as its theme helping adolescents and young adults develop their own
resilience (that word again – see last week’s blog) so as to better look after
their mental health and wellbeing. A longside enabling young people to help
themselves, the focus is also on better equipping schools, friends, peers and
families to more effectively recognise and help young people who might be
struggling with mental health issues.
Now, I never actually went to
university to study an undergraduate degree. As such, it’s impossible for me to
talk about how it might feel to be away from family friends for the first time.
However, I have seen the excitement in many of my students as they start their university
journey. But equally, it may also be a challenging time for some young people.
Despite there being many other people around, it can feel very lonely. Finances
have to be managed, and these days, many students get a job as well as trying
to study full time. So good times for sure, but also maybe tough times too.
Sadly many students decide university is not for them very early on in their
studies and leave. One in five of all 16-24 year olds will experience
depression or anxiety, and this new service is aimed at making it easier for
students to access help. This may be in the form of services directly provided
by the university or more specialist help if that is indicated.
There were lots of good things
said about the new service – ‘we don’t just want our students well-educated; we
want them to be well’; developing mental health services that provides support
from ‘prevention to prescription’ – I think it is a case of watch this space.
Coincidently, last Wednesday I also
chaired the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) NHS Trust Quality and Safety
Committee, which unusually started with a presentation from the local Children
and Adolescents Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team. The team were there in
response to our concerns over the lack of Tier 4 beds, these are inpatient
services for the most unwell children (including those with an eating disorder)
whose mental health problems cannot be managed on an outpatient basis. These
beds range from open adolescent inpatient units through to medium secure units.
There is a national shortage of such placements.
The presentation drew on the iThrive conceptual model which aims to create locally-driven integrated
services rather than simply providing services using the more traditional Tier
approach. As a hospital, we want to be part of this integrated approach. For
example, when troubled children are admitted to paediatric services at WWL,
their behaviour can often be a challenge to deal with, they can pose a risk of
harm to themselves and or others, and meeting both their physical and mental
health needs can be extremely difficult. Whilst specialist help in the form of
RAID (rapid assessment interface and discharge) services have been brilliant at
dealing with patients over the age of 18 with mental health symptomology, such
services aren’t always available for children and young people. Whilst such
services are valuable in ensuring people’s mental health needs are met whilst
they are in an acute hospital setting, it is still ‘downstream work’.
The CAMHS presentation sketched
out what might be done better ‘upstream’ and prevent some of the admissions in
the first place. We were told of developments such as on-line counselling (Kooth);
safe zones (as an alternative to inpatient mental health care) with other early
intervention and crisis management approaches being described. I thought it was
a hopeful approach, but I think it’s a case of watch this space.
What we can’t do is ignore the fact
that winter is fast approaching and the demands upon our services to meet the
needs of children and young people living with both physical and mental health
problems will increase. It seems to me that both the university and Wigan community approaches are
likely to benefit future generations of children and young people. I think it’s
a case of watch this space. Strangely as I was putting together notes for this
blog, the postman put the Saturday post through the letter box. There was a
loud thump. Opening up the padded letter, out dropped a gold medal. It was my
medal for doing a sponsored 10km walk for YoungMinds. They are a great
organisation, committed to improving the mental health of children and young
people – and for once it’s not a case of watch
this space – they are doing it!
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