Mental Health Support Teams

Providing early intervention mental health support for children and young people aged 5–18 in schools and colleges

Find out more about our Mental Health Support Teams at connect.humber.nhs.uk.

Supporting the health and wellbeing of children, young people, adults with learning disabilities, and their families across Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire, Connect includes detailed, accessible information on all of the Trust’s services for children and for adults with learning disabilities.

Hull Mental Health Support Teams

We work together with NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB, Hull Health and Care Partnership and Hull City Council to deliver Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) which provide early intervention mental health support for children and young people aged 5–18 in specific schools and colleges in Hull. The teams, provided by our Trust, have been fully operational since 2022 and currently support seven secondary schools, twenty-one primary schools, four special schools and two alternative provisions in the East, West and North areas of Hull.

The MHSTs work across education and healthcare and provide consultation to support schools to identify and manage issues relating to mental health and wellbeing, as well as delivering high quality evidence based interventions for children, young people and families who experience mild and moderate needs, and can request specialist support or signposting as necessary.

The Mental Health Support Teams are integrated into the already well established city wide Hull Thrive model and compliment the many excellent teams and services out there to further enhance the early help and intervention offer.

Subscribe to the Hull newsletter here Hull Mental Health Support Teams Newsletter (humber.nhs.uk)

East Riding of Yorkshire Mental Health Support Team (MHST)

The East Riding of Yorkshire Mental Health Support Team (MHST) continues to work in partnership with NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, and East Riding of Yorkshire Council to deliver early intervention mental health support for children and young people aged 5 to 18 years within participating schools and colleges across the East Riding.

We work collaboratively with children and young people, parents and carers, and education settings to ensure a systemic approach to supporting emotional wellbeing. Our aim is to provide support at the earliest opportunity, helping to build confidence and resilience while promoting positive mental health outcomes. This includes offering one-to-one interventions with children, young people and families, alongside wider support for schools and communities.

The MHST also promotes a whole-school approach to emotional wellbeing through staff training, community events, and workshops for parents and carers. Where our service is not the most appropriate provision, we support children, young people and families to access the services that best meet their needs, providing guidance and signposting throughout their journey.

Working across both education and healthcare systems, MHSTs provide consultation and advice to schools to help identify, understand and manage mental health and wellbeing concerns. We deliver high-quality, evidence-based interventions for children, young people and families experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, while also facilitating access to specialist services where required.

Our Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) are embedded within schools across the East Riding and have developed strong relationships with education staff, local communities, and partner agencies. They work alongside existing support services to enhance the emotional wellbeing provision available to children, young people and their families.

Referrals can be made directly to the East Riding Mental Health Support Team or through participating education settings.

Subscribe to our newsletter: East Riding Mental Health Support Teams Newsletter (humber.nhs.uk)

What will the Mental Health Support Teams look like?

Each MHST consists of two Senior Practitioners and four EMHPs. There will also be professional/clinical leadership across both teams to support education settings.

The MHSTs have three functions:

Delivering evidence-based interventions for mild to moderate mental health issues to children, young people and families
In partnership with education settings, the MHSTs support the Mental Health Leads to further develop and deliver their whole school approach and providing timely advice and support
Liaising with external specialist services to help children and young people get the right support and stay in education

Why are Mental Health Support Teams important?

The Government’s response to the Consultation on Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: a Green Paper and Next Steps (2018) ensures areas that are successful in the Green Paper bid funding go further for children and young people who are showing early signs of distress, so that they are always able to access the right help, in the right setting, when they need it.

The MHSTs support children and young people, providing extra capacity for early intervention support within school and college settings.

We know that early intervention can prevent problems escalating and have major societal benefits; therefore the Green Paper (2018) aims to put schools and colleges at the heart of efforts to intervene early and prevent problems escalating.

Watch the video to find out what these EMHP’s have to say about their experiences in the role.

Hull Mental Health Support Team - The journey so far (youtube.com)