To receive a presentation from Xenzone, the organisation providing Bracknell Forest’s online mental health support for young people, to learn about their experiences of working in Bracknell Forest and to provide the Health and Wellbeing Board with an opportunity to help shape the service’s development
Minutes:
Elaine Bousfield, Managing Director of Xenzone, gave a presentation in respect of Xenzone’s work to support the emotional and mental health of young people in Bracknell Forest through the introduction of Kooth an online counselling service which had been commissioned by the Bracknell and Ascot Clinical Commissioning Group and Bracknell Forest Council.
Xenzone was a national company providing online and face to face services to children and young people. Xenzone’s service had been accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and their counselling services were currently available in 23 different local authority and clinical commissioning group areas across the Country. Counselling was provided by a team of 28 highly skilled and experienced professionals supported by a team of associate counsellors completing a two year programme designed to provide them in-depth experience of working with children and young people. Evidence from elsewhere suggests that the provision of an online resource can help reduce waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and reduce the number of inappropriate referrals to CAMHS. When a young person contacted Kooth they received online support within nine minutes and were provided with assessment appointments within 10 working days. Xenzone also worked with schools to develop in-reach programmes including resilience building programmes
When Counsellors identified that young person’s depression was not improving or there were signs of psychosis or an active eating disorder then referrals would be made to a young person’s GP or more specialist services. By providing services up to 10pm and at weekends Xenzone was able to provide an extra layer of support to those already being treated by CAMHS and who might need help from an out of hours service. Xenzone was also able to provide a blended service of online support and face to face counselling sessions and in the areas that had elected to commission this option it had been found to be a valuable preventative service.
The introduction of Kooth in Bracknell Forest, gave the Borough’s young people access to an online community which offered them a range of tools to help support them including one to one access to a therapist, worksheets and articles, hosted web forums and online personal journals. Since the programme’s launch in April 2015, 131 young people resident in Bracknell Forest had registered to use the online service, Kooth, with the majority needing support at the lowest of the three support levels offered. Feedback from young people signposted to Kooth by GPs was extremely positive, with the majority requiring only one or two sessions at the lowest support level, and GPs were keen to see the service developed further.
In school programmes had initially been introduced in Edgbarrow, Ranelagh and Sandhurst Schools and the Pupil Referral Unit and school staff had given positive feedback on the services offered. A small number of school governors had expressed initial reservations about the introduction of the service and Xenzone had worked with schools to allay these fears and further tailor the service offered in schools. Initial concerns that the service would be overwhelmed by demand had been unfounded and the service would now be rolled out across all schools in the Borough.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT) had been reluctant to accept referrals to CAHMS services made by Kooth and Bracknell Forest’s Public Health Team was working with Xenzone and BHFT to resolve this situation. It was agreed that intervention at a senior level would help resolve the situation and Alex Gild agreed to take up these concerns with BHFT.
Referral rates from hospitals were traditionally low (1 – 2% of referrals) and only a limited amount of time was spend promoting the service though hospitals. The complex nature of hospital coverage across the Borough was acknowledged however it was agreed that raising staff awareness of the service in key areas would be useful.
Engagement with the voluntary and community sector was still at an early stage with engagement to date primarily taking place through Youthline and young carers groups. Xenzone were keen to develop this area and it was agreed that Involve would provide support with this.
Under the current tiered system if a young person who had been treated and discharged from CAMHS went on to develop further problems then they would have to re-enter CAMHS at Tier 1 and restart the process. It has been recognised that this approach is not always helpful and Xenzone was working with partners to develop a more fluid, blended approach based on the ‘Thrive’ model.
The Board thanked Elaine Bousfield for her informative presentation and commended the success of the service to date. The Board expressed their full support of the service and requested that any barriers encountered be raised with the Board.