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Yesterday the NHS's long-term plan was released. The one reference to trans children is on p 51 - quote to follow longtermplan.nhs.uk/wp-content/upl….
"3.28. Mental health support for children and young people will be embedded in schools and colleges. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper set out proposals to improve mental health support in schools and colleges. Over the next five years
the NHS will fund.."
the NHS will fund.."
"new Mental Health Support Teams working in schools and colleges, building
on the support already available, which will be rolled out to between one-fifth and a quarter of the country by the end of 2023. These school and college-based services will be supervised by..."
on the support already available, which will be rolled out to between one-fifth and a quarter of the country by the end of 2023. These school and college-based services will be supervised by..."
"NHS children and young people mental health staff and will provide specific extra capacity for early intervention and ongoing help. Teams will receive information and training to help them support young people more likely to face mental health issues – such as Lesbian, Gay..."
"Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT+) individuals or children in care, and as they are rolled out, we will test approaches to support children and young people outside of education settings. The NHS work with schools, parents and local councils will reveal whether more upstream"
"preventative support, including better information sharing and the use of digital interventions, helps moderate the need for specialist child and adolescent mental health services. It will thereby test approaches that could feasibly deliver four week waiting times for access.."
"to NHS support, ahead of introducing new national waiting time standards for all children and young people who need specialist mental health services."
Now obviously being gender diverse is not a mental health issue. But trans kids are currently required to engage through a Mental Health Trust at GIDS, which has an 18 month wait list. I wonder if services at school could support trans children in a less pathologising way?
In other countries non-specialist counsellors (eg at school) support trans kids. For this to work in UK we need school mental health staff with confidence supporting trans kids & we need to tackle the myth that supporting trans kids is peculiarly specialist, difficult or risky
The plan talks of working with schools & parents to 'test approaches' to deliver support within 4 weeks, providing early intervention/preventative upstream support and reducing need for specialist mental health care.
A pilot focusing on how trans children's well-being can be improved by better advice & affirmative care through school-centred support outside of specialist mental health GIDS will be vitally important. How can this happen @LGBTfdn @stonewalluk
