Agenda item

This paper aims to provide an overview of the data and work undertaken to date to address children, young people and young adults in relation to self-harm across Medway.

Discussion:

The Board considered the report which highlighted that a sudden spike in self-harm figures had occurred in October 2022. Work was being undertaken to understand this spike and it was believed that this may have been as a result of a recording issue, although this was yet to be verified. However, since the report was written, there had been a reduction in self-harm figures.

The report also detailed the work undertaken over the last three years to increase support for young people that presented with lower and moderate need.

It was commented that there were preventative interventions in place for young people to address needs, and mental health was an issue that had a high profile yet was not talked about enough. Discussion on mental health was a challenge for various professionals, but normalising conversations and provision of support was crucial for young people and families.

It was asked what the impact of the strategy had been and the relationship between social media and issues with mental health. The Board was informed that this had been a three- year strategy focussed on meeting all mental health needs and  was not limited to self-harm. Services were being delivered through the  I-Thrive model which worked on the basis of meeting needs at different stages. It was found that a number of young people the Child Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) waiting lists were for low or moderate group work support and by increasing provision,  they were able to be supported by services outside of CAMHS,  leading to a decrease in wait times in CAMHS for those with highest needs. Over the last six months there had been a consistent downward trend and reduction in self-harm figures.

The increase in levels of information on social media and negative links to mental health was acknowledged. Officers were interested to see what learning and outcomes materialise from the actions taken by Australia on restriction of access to social media by young people.

In response to a question on joined up working on identification and causes of self-harm in young people, the Board was informed that there were many factors including but not limited to peer pressure, exam pressures, access to outdoor and open spaces, identity, as well as the impact of the Covid Pandemic. Every child’s story was unique, and individual.

Some of the insight work carried out by the self-harm project group indicated that many children experiencing issues do not come forward or believed that they could only access services when they hit crisis point. It was vital that extensive work be undertaken through comms to ensure that young people understood how and when they could access support and were aware of services that could be accessed before they reached crisis point. Officers agreed that the biggest challenge was how to get the message out in the community about the range of services available and that it was the responsibility of all to ensure messages were clear.

The Board was informed that there was ongoing various initiatives such as  work undertaken through the Medway Parent and Carers Forum on raising awareness. A Mental Health conference for children and young people had recently taken place, and work was being undertaken to upskill young people in schools with mental health first aid training, as well as being mental health champions. There was a lot of work underway to commission a therapeutic alliance, the aspirations of which was for a single point of access for professionals, parents and children to be able to navigate and access support.

Partners across the Board gave their commitment to support the work of the Public Health Team.

Decision:

a)     The Board noted the report

b)     Partners on the Board gave their commitment to the work being undertaken on the ‘Self Harm Project’

c)     The Board agreed that the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee  be informed of the work of the therapeutic alliance and that they consider an item on this at a future meeting of the Committee.