Dr Karen Street, RCPCH Officer for Mental Health, led the session outlining the College’s position on the role of paediatricians in supporting children and young people’s mental health, and describing recent initiatives from NHS England to improve how care is delivered in acute settings. This builds on the College’s position statement on supporting children and young people’s mental health.
Dr Emma Blake, chair of the College Specialty Advisory Committee (CSAC) for Child Mental Health and chair of the Paediatric Mental Health Association (PMHA), talked through the training opportunities for paediatricians, including SPIN and GRID and ongoing professional development through PMHA.
Dr James Dearden, consultant paediatrician in Torbay, described his experience as mental health lead in paediatrics, and how networking with CAMHS and seeking views from young people have supported improvements in ward environments, education and training, and building links with other providers in the community.
The webinar closed with a Q&A session touching on issues such as:
- Getting commissioners’ support for mental health lead roles in paediatrics
- The relationship between mental health lead roles and eating disorder services
- Accessing training for common mental health issues – such as MindEd, We Can Talk and PMHA
- Eligibility for SPIN - download curriculum (PDF) and sub-specialty training (also called GRID)
Thank you to all those who attended.