A ‘passport-style’ brief of key facts that children and young people using mental health services can use to help them avoid repeating their history and preferences has been launched by NHS England.
The ‘concept’ was devised through the NHS England Children and Young People’s IAPT Improving Integrated Services Task and Finish Group. Each ‘passport’ will include clinical information, and ‘key personal preferences’. NHS England said: “The idea was developed by young people, parents, and carers, and can now be used across care settings, either on paper or mobile phones.”
NHS England said the new tool had been developed in line with the Department of Health and NHS England Future in Mind report on improving children and young people’s mental health, published last year, which said young mentally unwell people should ‘only have to tell their story once, to someone who was dedicated to helping them’, and ‘should not have to repeat it to lots of different people’.
Around 850,000, or 9.6%, of children and young people aged between five and 16 have a mental disorder.
Dr Jackie Cornish, NHS England national clinical director, Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood, said: “No patient should need to repeat their history several times, and innovations like this solve problems and make patients’ lives easier.”
Written with the practitioner ‘in a professional style’, and including ‘as much or as little as the young person likes’, the ‘passport’ is kept by the youngster, in their preferred format, and can be shown to professionals at any new service.