NHS England wanted to understand how Mental Health Support Teams are supporting children and young people with mild to moderate mental health needs.
Objective
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) have been gradually rolled out across England since 2018. NHS England (NHSE) wanted to understand how these teams are supporting children and young people with mild to moderate mental health needs. They commissioned us to undertake a rapid impact audit of seven established MHSTs across the country. The audit needed to be a fast-paced piece of work, drawing on a range of data types and working with a variety of stakeholders in a tight timeframe, to gain insight into the current impact of MHSTs.
What we did
The project required rapid mobilisation and drew on a range of qualitative and quantitative information sources relating to the seven sites, including:
- In-person semi-structured interviews with 64 professionals involved in the operational and strategic delivery of MHSTs, across health and education
- Online survey responses from a further 89 professionals
- Activity and outcome data submitted to the Mental Health Services Data-set (MHSDS)
- NHS England workforce data
- Supplementary information provided by the audit sites
Activity
Mental health
Undertook a rapid impact audit of seven established Mental Health Support Teams across the country.
Mental Health enabling solutions
Delivered a collaborative investigation into the implementation and impact of Mental Health Support Teams across the country for NHSE.
Outcome
As MHSTs are still in their relative infancy, some of the wider benefits expected from the programme such as those associated with improved educational outcomes are yet to be measurable through quantitative data. Nevertheless, the narrative gathered through interviews with professionals and surveys suggests that MHSTs are having a positive impact for both CYP and those who support them.
Taking an agile and responsive approach for the duration of the project, we worked closely in partnership with both NHSE and CORC colleagues to deliver a collaborative investigation into the implementation and impact of Mental Health Support Teams across the country for NHSE to use internally and to inform conversations with ministers.
Taking an agile and responsive approach for the duration of the project, we worked closely in partnership with both NHSE and CORC colleagues to deliver a collaborative investigation into the implementation and impact of Mental Health Support Teams across the country for NHSE to use internally and to inform conversations with ministers.
