MENTAL health provisions for children and young people across the West Midlands are set to receive a £1.6million boost.
The funding, provided by Toucan (the West Midlands Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Provider Collaborative), will support a range of new care model developments to improve crisis care, expand community-based support, and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions under the Children and Young Persons Intensive Mental Health Services (CYPIMHS).
Mental health bosses say the selected projects will focus on a wide scope of clinical care, such as expanding crisis care and support for young people in mental health emergencies, providing community-based alternatives to hospitalisation, and supporting the experience of children with complex needs in a hospital setting, including those with autism and learning disabilities.
Elaine Kirwan, director of Toucan, said: “We have great partners who are working closely with us to ensure we align to the objectives of the provider collaborative and commit to investment in local initiatives for children and young people.
“We evaluated bids that best aligned with our objectives of improving access to care in a crisis and promoting recovery in the community for children and young people in the West Midlands.
“While we acknowledge that continued efforts are necessary to further enhance services and meet local priorities, this investment marks the start of a significant step forward in our commitment to transforming services and delivering high-quality mental health care.”
Successful bids came from Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, and North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust.
Earlier this year, Toucan’s partners were invited to submit bids for short-term, non-recurrent funding to address regional priorities. In total, six bids were received. They were then evaluated with recommendations for the proposals that best aligned with Toucan’s objectives of improving access to care, promoting recovery, and reducing the need for inpatient services.
