CEO's blog: how we're making an impact in early 2025
We begin the new year working closely with the Parents and Carers Alliance (PACA), revisiting our 2022 report into experiences of CAMHS and mental health support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Milton Keynes.
We're exploring how things have changed since the publication of our report and recommendations and what further action is needed. You can read our 2022 report on our website, and there will be a feedback survey coming soon. We know from your experiences that accessing support and diagnostic services for ADHD, ASD assessments and young people’s mental health, all too often still revolves around endless waiting, being referred back and forth, or perhaps not meeting specific criteria to qualify for treatment.
If you, or your family members have personal experience of being referred to, waiting for treatment, or experience of treatment by CAMHS, mental health support teams in schools, or neurodiversity assessment and support services, please get in touch and share your experience. This insight will help us to understand what is working and hold local providers to account where services are letting you, and young people down.
We'll also be launching, and rolling out our Diversity on Patient Participation Groups (PPG) toolkit to local GP practices over the coming months. A PPG is a group attached to each GP practice, made up of patient volunteers, the Practice Manager, and one or more GPs.
The new toolkit is designed to support existing PPGs to be more inclusive, and to attract more patients from minority ethnic communities and wider age groups. Creating more inclusive PPGs ensures that under-represented groups in our community have a voice and can influence services to ensure they meet the needs of our growing, diverse city.
Finally, an advanced reminder for your diary: Saturday 15 February is when we're holding our 'Your health, our community' day at Conniburrow Community Centre. This is your one-stop shop for all things health and wellbeing, with something for everyone - including the kids. All the details are included in this issue, and we'd love to welcome you if you can drop in.
So, as you can see, we've hit the ground running for 2025.
