28 October 2021

A new model of mental healthcare has been designed and signed off for young adults, aged 16-25 years, living in North West London (NWL), as part of our implementation of the long-term plan. CNWL and West London Trust (WLT) have collaborated on this piece of work in an effort to engage more young people in the design and delivery of mental health services across the eight NWL boroughs. This joint partnership has also benefitted from the input of stakeholders in the Local Authority, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VSCE) organisations and Higher Education Institutes.

Three quarters of mental health problems are established by 24 years of age, and young adults often report poor experiences of mental health services and have high non-attendance rates. The pandemic has also turned young people’s lives upside down and the impact of this on their mental health and wellbeing is only just beginning to be seen. 

In response, a programme of work including stakeholder engagement and mental health service data analysis was set up in 2020 to help develop a new model of care, which is now ready to be implemented.

Designing and Building the Model

From May 2021, a number of wide task groups from across CNWL and WL Trusts were set up to deliver this work including:

  • The Young Adult Ambassador Group – a group of young adults with lived experience, including a Young Adult Chair
  • Clinical Senate – practitioners from CNWL services across children’s and adult services
  • Stakeholder events and workshops – attended by voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, Local Authorities and Higher Education Institutes

The key feedback from these groups was that a “siloed, new or alternative” service for this age group wouldn’t work and may end up just creating “new gaps” for young people to fall through. Instead, it was agreed that existing offers should be better aligned, integrated and bolstered, increasing care that is outcome-focused, trauma-informed and intervention-based where possible.

Matthew Goodman-Freeman, Young Adult and Chair of NWL Young Adult Ambassador Group said, “there’s no one way to support someone with their mental health so we can be creative about what we offer young people. There are many brilliant services in the community but we need to make sure young people are hearing about them.”

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Early responses from young people informed the new model of care

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Feedback from partners was also collected and considered

The engagement phase led to the development of underpinning principles which would go on to guide a new young adult mental health offer. The new model was also designed to complement developments in other mental health services such as community, crisis care and eating disorders.

Some specific features of the model:

  • Dedicated support for young adults moving from Adolescent to Adult Mental Health Services – e.g. peer support and getting-to-know-you sessions with their new clinician.
  • Continued support for young adults who’ve experienced adversities such as youth violence.
  • Young adult focused therapies and service adaptations.
  • In-reach services where young people are – e.g. universities, colleges or local hubs for those not in employment or higher education.
  • Support both before and after treatment – e.g. active communication whilst on waiting lists.
  • Multi-agency Young Adult Triage and Partnership meetings with clinical assistance for referrers to develop management plans.

Christella Dwyer Dwyer, a parent and carer rep, has said of the model: “as the mother of a service user, I feel that this new strategy for transition will be extremely beneficial. Moving up to adult services can be daunting but this new model will let service users move up in a more gradual way. This will avoid short sharp moves that can lead to feelings of rejection. Parents and families can now be more involved with the care as well.”

Next Stages of Implementation

This exciting new model is now being set up in each of the North West London boroughs. This has started with the creation of borough-specific 'Young Adult Mental Health Implementation Groups'. These will support CNWL, WLT and our partners to take the model forward and meet the needs of young adults.

The first phase of this implementation will include looking at community assets. This includes plans for a scheme to support voluntary, community sector organisations to help address health inequalities, better identify unmet needs and improve equality of access to early intervention. There will also be investment in services that support young adults such as at-risk emotional state offers within Early Intervention Services and Community Navigators.