On 26 July 2005 the Trustees agreed in principle, subject to detailed agreement on reporting mechanisms and evaluation, to fund £20,000 in support of a project to produce a self-assessment toolkit for primary health care teams to develop their mental health practice for young people based on young people's views. The project is being organised in conjunction with Investing in Children (based in Durham), Northumberland Care Trust, Darlington PCT, Dales PCT and Durham and Chester le Street PCT. The project author and leader is Dr. Maryanne Freer. The project is expected to last 14 months starting in September 2005. The intended outcomes are:
- A set of criteria for rural young people's mental health.
- The production of a self-assessment tool to improve access to young people.
- A quality benchmarking system covering participation between young people and primary health care teams.
- The training and retention of a cohort of young people who can contribute to the development of mental health services in future.
(February, 2007)
This project is progressing according to plan but will take longer to complete than originally thought. The views of young people have been sought using expertise of Durham based Investing in Children. The feedback caused the project to focus on school nurses rather than GPs and other Primary Care staff.
The toolkit has been developed and will be piloted starting in February 2007 with, it is hoped, assistance from up to six school nurses. The First Steering Group was held on 11th January, 2007.
(July 2007)
As a result of the pilot it has been concluded that school nurses need training in its use, school staff need to be made aware of this initiative and pupils need to be informed of what to do. The intention is to conduct a trial within all schools in Newcastle, Tyneside and Co. Durham but consents have to be obtained as does funding.
(October, 2007)
The Trustees have decided to support an extension of this project to enable the development and printing of a young person's mental health poster,the printing of a problem solving leaflet for school nurses,and the training of school nurses within Northumberland and Co. Durham in consultation with the NHS. This work is due to be completed by March 2008 and will be subject to evaluation.
We are delighted that The Band Trust has decided to fund this extension.
(January, 2008)
Young People and MH in the NE. Promotional material based on a poster introducing the School Nurse and stating what she can do to help , and on a flier entitled ' Care to Share' which lists how school nurses can help and outlines pupil rights have been published and are in use.
The first training session for school nurses based in Northumberland was delivered before Christmas and received a very positive evaluation. Further training sessions in Northumberland and Co Durham are planned for February and March 2008. It is of note that early feedback has identified a need for school nurses to complete Child Protection Training before starting to use the toolkit.
(July 2008)
Training of school nurses in Northumberland and Co Durham has been completed. This process has informed the final draft of the Toolkit.
