Sefton Mental Health Support Team (MHST)

This green paper represents a collaboration between Department of Health and the Department for Education. The MHST service is located between health and education.

It is clear that the green paper allows for each borough to develop it’s own style of service provision that best meets the needs of the particular borough. We will work with and alongside any existing support and pastoral services that are already delivering a service within schools. 

“This mix of provision will look very different in different areas, and we do not believe there is a single model that should be implemented nationally” p4

Who is in the team?

The service is made up of:

• One clinical lead
• One project manager
• Two team leaders
• 4 full time mental health practitioners (MHP)
• 8 trainee education mental health practitioners (EMHP)

How we work

Currently we are working with 40 schools in Sefton. 20 in the North of Sefton with a focus on the transition years. 20 in South Sefton with a focus on areas of socioeconomic deprivation.

We work with school staff, parents, families, children and young people. We provide our services via training, consultation, group work, assemblies, family work and one to one sessions. We also contribute to PSHE lessons in schools.

Sefton school’s MHST aim going forward is to improve the capacity of every child going to school in Sefton to know what to do to look after their emotional wellbeing. We aim to do this in a non-stigmatising way, so that emotional wellbeing and mental health can be ‘championed’ and talked about in exactly the same way as physical health.   

The whole school approach is a foundation stone of what we offer and it is important that every child, young person, and member of school staff experiences the school environment as a place of felt safety. This is particularly important for children and young people who are more vulnerable, as well as those who’s needs are already being met outside school.

MHST aim to offer timely, direct, psychological interventions to prevent deterioration of emotional wellbeing. We want to get the right treatment to the right person at the right time, and may sign post to a more appropriate local provider, or support referral to specialist CAMH services.

“There comes a point where we need to stop pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.”

Desmond Tutu

We aim to promote the early detection and prevention of mental health problems within the whole school or college community. Our trainee EMHP’s and mental health practitioners will offer interventions to work with mild to moderate mental health conditions. As a service, we will also be offering regular training, consultation, and advice to school staff to help them be better able to support their pupils.

School staff and parents will be able to access support, guidance and training around specific issues of mental health and emotional wellbeing.  

Please bear with us while we are setting up the service and moving towards being fully operational by January 2022.