Extra investment has been made in mental health services for children.
Eight extra healthcare staff have been appointed in a move that will mean earlier intervention for children with mental health problems, better care at home and in the community with a new 24 hours a day ‘wraparound’ service and a reduction in the number of children referred to the UK for treatment.
It will also allow the expansion of the service to include 17 and 18 year olds in full time education.
Funding for the first year will come from the central Health Inspection Fund but the move is expected to be cost neutral in the long term.
Specialist treatment in the UK can cost as much as £4,000 a week per child and there is intense competition to secure beds.
A new ‘wraparound’ service will ensure that there is additional support available 24 hours a day for young people who may require a risk assessment or who are admitted to hospital.
The development is part the island’s first ever Strategic Plan for Mental Health and Wellbeing, approved by Tynwald last year, and it is also a significant step in the Manx NHS’s plans for integrated healthcare.
‘Intervening to help young people with mental health issues is important for its own sake, however giving that support and care as early as possible in childhood can be more effective than doing so later in life. Early support helps to give our young people experiencing problems a better childhood which means they’re likely to do better at school and have better career prospects.’
The department’s five year strategy places greater emphasis on prevention and providing care sooner to avoid health problems developing in the first place or, at least, becoming more complex.
In his introduction to the strategy, Mr Quayle says: ‘A quarter of the population will experience mental health problems or illness at some point in their lives; this can have significant effect on numerous areas of a person’s life and those around them. Mental health issues need to be seen and valued alongside physical illness and the stigma prevalent in previous generations needs to be replaced with a culture of understanding, empathy and respect.’
Source: IOM Today
