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Abstract
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Over the past 20 years the prevalence of childhood mental illness has increased but the number of consultant child psychiatrists has stalled. With escalating referrals to specialist services, waiting times and thresholds for treatment have also increased. There has been a mushrooming of mental health awareness and different supports offered in other health and community services. However, for many children, our services are still hard to reach, especially for those who are most socially marginalised. Integrated care is about joining things up in order to meet health needs, and in ways that make sense to children and families. It requires child psychiatrists to work across organisational boundaries and in different settings. Systems working requires a different skill set, one that moves beyond a focus on individual engagement to one that involves collective and collaborative action. In this symposium we set the scene for what has changed in terms of prevalence, demand on services and the role of child psychiatrists in an expanded children’s mental health workforce. We reflect on different models of delivering healthcare working with other agencies and in different settings. We will talk about how providing consultation within our services and our communities helps build a better understanding of where the greatest need is and empowers others to join in this work, with examples from collaborative work within primary care and schools. Finally, we talk about the need for service transformation and the role of psychiatrists as clinical and strategic leaders, educators and advocates for children.
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