Priority 4 - Strengthening emotional wellbeing, mental health and neurodevelopmental support
4.1) Where we are now: Mental health pathways for children and young people with needs relating to neurodiversity are not consistently clear or accessible, making it difficult for families to navigate and receive appropriate support.
What we will do:
- develop and implement a jointly agreed Emotional Wellbeing Pathway for those with Neurodevelopmental and across education, health and care
- establish partnership governance arrangements to monitor pathway effectiveness and address barriers to access
- co-produce pathway information and resources with children, young people and families
Outcome: children, young people, families and practitioners can easily understand and navigate mental health pathways, enabling timely access to the right support at the right time.
Success measures:
- reduced number of inappropriate referrals between services
- evidence of multi-agency oversight and performance reporting through partnership governance structures
- published pathway documentation is available and regularly updated
- increased proportion of families reporting they understand how to access support
4.2) Where we are now: Delays in neurodevelopmental assessment pathways can result in children and young people waiting too long to access assessment, intervention and specialist advice.
What we will do:
- work with local community paediatrics provider and National Health Service England (NHSE) to improve patient experience
- ensure support and intervention are available whilst children and young people await assessment, including Children Looked After (CLA) who continually move between authorities
Outcomes:
- children and young people access neurodevelopmental assessment, advice and support in a timely way that reflects their level of need
- clear sign-posting to wider services where thresholds are not met
- children and families benefit from better communication from the Lighthouse around waiting times and access to help
- schools and settings can better support children in the classroom
Success measures:
- reduction in average waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessments
- fewer children are discharged from community paediatric pathways without a diagnosis
- reduction in the number of children waiting beyond agreed pathway timescales
- increased proportion of children accessing support whilst awaiting assessment
4.3) Where we are now: Access to ongoing ADHD medication monitoring and review is not consistently timely, impacting continuity of care and progression to routine prescribing arrangements.
What we will do:
- develop a health improvement plan to strengthen capacity and reduce delays in medication reviews
- Integrated Care Board (ICB) to provide non-recurrent funding to enable backlog recovery for medication reviews
Outcome: children and young people requiring ADHD medication receive timely monitoring and review to ensure safe, effective and uninterrupted care.
Success measures:
- increased proportion of children receiving medication reviews within agreed timescales
- reduction in delays transferring to alternative routine prescribing arrangements
- positive feedback from families regarding continuity of care
4.4) Where we are now: The support available for children and young people before diagnosis is not always clearly understood or consistently accessed by families and practitioners.
What we will do:
- develop a graduated support framework that clearly describes available support prior to diagnosis
- improve awareness and understanding of available services through training, guidance and communication by strengthening links between health, education and family support services to ensure early intervention
Outcomes:
- children and young people receive appropriate support based on identified need, regardless of whether a formal diagnosis has been obtained
- children and families benefit from better communication from the Lighthouse around waiting times and access to help
- schools and settings can better support children in the classroom
Success measures:
- increased awareness of available support among professionals and families
- increased uptake of pre-diagnostic support
- positive feedback from families regarding access to information and support
- reduction in reports of children being unable to access support whilst awaiting assessment or diagnosis