The Partnership Commissioning Unit (PCU) on behalf of the Four CCGs that are based in North Yorkshire; Harrogate and Rural District CCG, Hambleton Richmondshire and Whitby CCG, Scarborough and Ryedale CCG and Vale of York CCG are collaborating on this project with North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council.

Future in Mind, published in March 2015 set out the national ambition for emotional and mental health services for children and young people.

In response, all CCGs have prepared Transformation Plans, setting out how they will fulfil that ambition by 2020.

A priority theme within the Plans is promotion of good emotional and mental health in schools, and early intervention where problems begin to manifest, in order to prevent illness developing or escalating to the stage where specialist CAMHS support is required.

The Plans for the four CCGs include a project to assign a professional mental health support worker to all school clusters or groups and to liaise closely with GP practices as named mental health support worker in North Yorkshire and the City of York (NYY), under a contract to March 2020.

A full service specification will be issued with tender documents.

Before the commencement of a formal procurement process, the Commissioners would like to better understand the provider market, the perceived deliverability of the project locally, and the options available to develop the service in a new environment (primarily schools and primary care settings).

North Yorkshire administrative County is the largest local government administrative area in England, encompassing 3000 square miles, and with a population of 601,500 (of which 134,000 are under 18), resident both in larger towns of Harrogate, Scarborough and Northallerton, and also with some very rural areas with some of the lowest population densities in England.

The City of York has a population of 200,000, of which 38,700 are under 18.

Aims of the service: The service is focused on promotion of good emotional and mental health, prevention of illness developing, and early intervention when difficulties become apparent: 1.

Train and offer support to school based staff in building a whole school culture of resilience and emotional well-being 2.

Train and offer support to school based staff to respond confidently and effectively to the needs of individual or groups of pupils 3.

Raise awareness among pupils parents and staff about emotional and mental health 4.

Offer therapeutic support to individual pupils or groups, and parents 5.

Participate in multi-disciplinary assessments of pupils, and liaise with other agencies and professional staff within the school or practice and outside to ensure the right help is offered when needed 6.

Act as link for GP surgeries to offer advice and support in signposting and responding to concerns regarding emotional and mental health for children and young people