£2.7m boost for mental health care

The child and adolescent mental health service in Barnsley made a joint bid with Salford Cognitive Therapy Training Centre, Manchester University and NHS services in Manchester, Salford and Derbyshire for Department of Health funding to deliver training to therapists and clinical leaders.

One in 10 children aged five-16 has a mental health problem which affect around one million youngsters. Half of all those who have mental problems show symptoms before the age of 14. Early treatment can help people find work and reduce the likelihood of them getting into trouble.

The investment is part of a national project to improve access to psychological or talking therapies for youngsters which will cost £32m over the next four years.

It will focus on children aged three to eight with behavioural difficulties and conduct disorders and youngsters aged eight to 18 with depression or anxiety disorders, delivering talking therapies and parenting training.

Janet Foster, manager for the service in Barnsley provided by the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said the project would help the service as it worked towards increasing access to services and also by monitoring its effectiveness.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to be at the forefront of such an important service development,” she said.

“Children and young people deserve to be treated by highly-skilled and well-trained professionals, who use effective evidenced-based approaches and tools such as cognitive behavioural therapy and parenting.”