Psychological help for young people

The sites were chosen to run an ambitious new programme to improve access to psychological therapies for youngsters who are experiencing a range of emotional and behavioural problems.

The trial service has been given a national budget of up to £54 million over four years.

Lee Miller, children’s health commissioning manager said: “One in 10 children aged between five and 16 years has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem and all of them should have the best evidence-based care.

“Our ambition is that this programme will help them get it and we are delighted to have been chosen to run this in Bedfordshire and Luton.

“Children and young people have been involved at a national level to help steer this project, and we are committed to working with children and young people locally – listening to their wishes and preferences.”

The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) is a service transformation project for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

It focuses on improving and extending current services through training and embedding evidence-based practice, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Parenting programmes.

For further information about IAPT, visit www.iapt.nhs.uk