Lincolnshire mental health services for children and young people shortlisted for two prestigious awards

LPFT mental health services in Lincolnshire have been shortlisted for two national awards, recognising teams which make exceptional contributions to the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

The Children and Young People’s Support Team were shortlisted in the peer support category at the Positive Practice Mental Health Awards 2021.

The team were highly commended at the awards ceremony, recognising the valuable role peer support workers play in supporting young people and parent/carers accessing mental health services.

The nomination was in recognition of the introduction of parent/carer peer support workers across Lincolnshire’s children and young people’s services.

Peer support workers are dedicated to improving patient experience by using their own lived experience to support a young person or parent/carer accessing services, as well as helping them to develop personal wellness plans when it is time to move on from specialist support.

Amy Butler, Head of Operations for Children and Young People Services at LPFT, said:

“We are really proud of our teams and how our services have developed over the past year, allowing us to better support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing.

“Peer Support Workers have lived experience of mental health difficulties and use this experience and stories of recovery to provide emotional and practical support. They help service users and their families feel that somebody out there truly understands, which instils hope for recovery and bridges the ‘them and us’ divide that can sometimes worry the young people we care for.”

Lincolnshire’s Children and Young People Complex Needs Service (formerly known as the Future4Me Health Team) was also shortlisted for an award, this time for the ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing’ category at the Children and Young People Now Awards 2021.

The service works as an integrated partnership between LPFT, Lincolnshire County Council and other partner agencies such as education and the criminal justice system, providing holistic support to young people who are at risk of homelessness, criminalisation, or exploitation.

The Children and Young People Now Awards recognise services which go the extra mile for children and young people, and the winner in the category will be "the initiative that has done the most to transform the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, whether through prevention, early intervention or treatment".

The awards ceremony took place virtually on Thursday 25 November and despite the competition of eleven other services, CYP Complex Needs Service staff were thrilled to be crowned winners.

Dr Nicola Silvester, Clinical and Strategic Lead for the Children and Young People Complex Needs Service, said:

“We are thrilled to have won this award which recognises the important role that the service plays in overcoming the challenges of segregated working, where children risk falling between the gaps and losing access to the right services. The team is supported by an integrated network of specialists from health, education, housing and criminal justice services to ensure that the right support is provided, at the right time, by the right worker.”

To find out more about NHS mental health services for children and young people in Lincolnshire, visit the LPFT website at www.lpft.nhs.uk/young-people