Your mind, your say: young people's views of mental health services in Dorset
Download (PDF 748.29 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Dorset wanted to check if the recommendations from their 2020 report on children and young people's mental health were still relevant to feed into NHS Dorset's review. They visited local organisations and youth groups across Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset, to speak directly with young people who don’t always have a strong voice. They spoke to 25 young people aged 13 - 23 and one support worker.
Several common themes emerged from the conversations with young people.
- Long waiting times to access services.
- Being unable to see the same support worker.
- Not having one person as a point of contact.
- Being unable to access services when desperate for support and before reaching crisis point.
- Sessions being held in a clinical environment that makes young people feel uncomfortable.
- Unhelpful treatment plans and ‘self-help’ suggestions from support workers.
- Generalising and not treating people’s individual needs.
- Better communication between patients and support workers.
- A lack of empathy and knowledge towards trauma.
- No check-in with patients between sessions or after treatment.
The report contains seven recommendations about waiting times, treating people with respect, locations of treatment and continuity of care.