Better integration of mental health services will assist students, preventing them from falling through the cracks at university.
The new initiative will bring together university, NHS, and mental health providers to form regional partnerships, which may include physical centres that students may visit.
When students have had to relocate to study in the past, they may have experienced delays in receiving mental health services. Students’ mental health can be addressed by bringing these services together to better communicate, boosting the quality of their university experience and their chances of future success.
Minister for Higher and Further Education Michelle Donelan and Minister for Care and Mental Health Gillian Keegan will today bring
Representatives from higher education and healthcare came together to introduce the new plan and show off examples of integration that are currently in place, as well as best practices and lessons learned.
The government will invest up to £3 million in the effort over the coming academic year, with the goal of relieving burden on the NHS and higher education institutions.
Michelle Donelan, Minister of Higher and Further Education, stated:
Moving to a new place is one of the most exciting parts of going to university but can create barriers for students in accessing mental health services.
We have brought together university and healthcare representatives to close any gaps between universities and NHS services so that all students can get the help they might need as they transition through university and beyond.
This government has prioritised student mental health because we know how important it is for students to feel supported – good mental health can affect their studies, boosting attainment and outcomes and helping them towards their bright futures.
Minister for Mental Health, Gillian Keegan, said:
It’s vital young people are able to access support early and this initiative will boost collaboration to ensure they get the help they need.
We’re already accelerating the roll out of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges and expanding community services for children and young people through £79 million of investment.
I encourage everyone of all ages to respond to our call for evidence to inform our new 10-year mental health and wellbeing plan.
Attendees at the roundtable including the Office for Students (OfS), Russell Group, Million Plus and NHS England will hear from universities who are leading the way in connecting NHS and university services and providing one-on-one support for their students.
Five areas – Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, and North London – have devised initiatives to bring services together into a physical centre that students may visit, with funding from the OfS challenge fund. The Manchester clinic, for example, is situated at the University of Manchester and has satellite clinics at the Institutions of Bolton and Salford. It is supported by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Cooperation and works in partnership with the region’s five universities. Students can obtain services through a recommendation from university counseling services, which offer a comprehensive variety of mental health assessment, support, and interventions.
This follows the appointment of Edward Peck as the Student Support Champion, who will ensure that universities are addressing the issues that important to students and assisting universities in recognizing the early warning signs of students suffering from mental health concerns.
This post will also contribute to cross-sector collaboration to address the issue of student mental health, such as the good work of Student Minds’ University Mental Health Charter. The charter works with students and colleges to strengthen standards of practice when it comes to dealing with mental health difficulties, and Minister Donelan has stated that she wants all higher education institutions to sign up for the program within the next five years, if not sooner.
The government is boosting funding in mental health services for children and young people at a quicker rate than the general budget for mental health to ensure that they can obtain help as soon as possible before their problems worsen.
The long-term advantages of this will be widely felt, and it is part of the government’s priority work to strengthen public services to assist young people in obtaining the education and skills they need to succeed, as well as assisting them in obtaining decent jobs and realizing their goals.
The government has launched a 12-week call for evidence that is available to people of all ages and seeks input on how the current service may be improved and how to better understand the causes of mental illness. This will be used to inform a new 10-year mental health plan that aims to level the playing field for mental and physical health across the country. The initiative will build on previous achievements by examining how local agencies might collaborate to prevent mental illness.
More than 2.4 million children and young people now have access to mental health care in schools and colleges, owing to the Mental Health Support Teams and the Department for Education’s £10 million investment to expand senior mental health lead training to more schools and institutions.
More widely, the government is investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year to expand and transform mental health services by 2023/24 as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. On top of this, £500 million has also been provided in 2021/22 specifically to support those most impacted by the pandemic to address waiting times and expand the mental health workforce. This included £79 million for children’s mental health services last year, enabling around 22,500 more children and young people to access support in their communities, and across schools and colleges. The NHS children and young people’s mental health workforce has also grown 40% since 2019.
This is part of broader work done by the government, putting more money into health and social care than any of its predecessors and ensuring that every penny is well spent. The government is investing an additional £39 billion over the next three years so that the NHS has the funding it needs to clear the covid backlogs, on top of a historic settlement which will see the NHS budget rise by £33.9 billion a year by 2023/24, helping everyone to receive world class care more swiftly.