The accessibility of mental health services for young people
Download (PDF 612.38 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Bath and North East Somerset worked with Youth Connect South West to investigate the accessibility of mental health and wellbeing services for young people in Bath and North East Somerset. They visited services, looked at websites and surveyed 32 young people.
Mental health and wellbeing support is available to young people in B&NES but it can be hard to access and waiting times for specialist support are too long. A lot of mental health and wellbeing support is online and involves navigating different websites and interpreting information. This could be difficult for some young people.
Most one to one support is time-limited which means that some young people still need help when it ends. Most face to face support requires young people to travel, which some find difficult.
Young people want to be supported in places that are friendly, welcoming and comfortable. Young people want to be able to access support in a variety of ways. Young people value one to one support from someone they trust. Clinical services are important but many young people want to be able to access mental health and wellbeing support more informally.
The report contains nine recommendations.