Recruitment begins for school mental health support teams

The Prime Minster Theresa May has announced measures to combat mental illness to mark Mental Health Awareness Day on 10 October.

Half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14 and so the government has pledged it will provide tools to help schools measure their students’ health, including their mental wellbeing, as well as making education in mental health and resilience a compulsory part of the curriculum.

Recruitment has now begun for new mental health support teams who will work with schools to ensure young people with mental health issues get the help they need. Trainees will begin studying in January and join schools across England next year.

Starting in 2019, the government will publish a ‘State of the Nation’ report every year on World Mental Health Day, highlighting the trends and issues in young people’s mental well-being – the first time children’s mental health will be reported in this way, alongside their physical health and academic attainment.

The Prime Minister also announced that health minister Jackie Doyle-Price will become the UK’s first Minister for Suicide Prevention, and that further funding will allow the Samaritans’ helpline to remain free for the next four years.