20 July 2023
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) has announced the launch of the ‘Think Together Team’, a transformation project designed to support children and young people to access mental health services in North Yorkshire.
This initiative is a component of the iThrive model, which aims to provide comprehensive advice and support to individuals, by linking them to the single point of access service in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
The project will expand the ‘getting help’ offer, incorporating interventions such as low intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and parent led CBT interventions.
These evidence-based psychological therapies will be available at an early intervention stage, enhancing the mental health support available to children and young people in the single point of access team, and involving them in decision-making processes.
The Think Together Team includes a senior children’s wellbeing practitioner, child wellbeing practitioners, an advanced nurse practitioner and a nursing associate.
The team owes its name to the creative input of young people from North Yorkshire. Students from Wensleydale School and Northallerton School, with the guidance of the wellbeing in mind team, actively participated in the selection process.
Students were told about the team’s objectives, geographical coverage, and the meaning of ‘getting advice’ and ‘getting help’ under the iThrive model of care.
Through engaging discussions and creative sessions using mental health-related words, the students proposed their ideas.
At Wensleydale School, students generated numerous suggestions and expressed their preference for incorporating the word ‘thoughts’ in the team’s name.
During the meeting with the anti-bullying ambassadors at Northallerton School, students expressed their affinity for the word ‘together’, emphasising the importance of support in combating feelings of isolation. Ultimately, the team considered all suggestions and decided on the name ‘Think Together’.
Naomi Willcox, an advanced nurse practitioner at the Trust said: “We believe the Think Together Team will have a positive impact on the accessibility of mental health services for children and young people.
“By involving young people in the decision-making process and incorporating their thoughts and ideas, we are working to create a supportive and inclusive environment that addresses the needs of patients.”
The development of a multi-agency access point is underway, with an information sharing agreement currently under review by the social care’s information governance team, in collaboration with TEWV. This will bring services together on a daily basis to discuss referrals and allow shared decision-making at an early stage between partner agencies to provide the most appropriate intervention for a young person in a timely manner.
This project is also expanding to the York and Selby single point of access team, who are currently developing their own ‘getting help offer’.
The team will sit under the umbrella of the existing Single Point of Access for North Yorkshire, York and Selby CAMHS and there will be no change to the usual access routes for mental health support.
If you’d like more information, you can contact:
- Single point of access team (North Yorkshire): 03000 134 778
- Single point of access team (York): 01904615345
