Young people’s mental health: an NHS primary care perspective, 10 years on

In 2016, an editorial in the BJGP warned that Children and Young People's (CYP) mental health services were the 'Cinderella of Cinderella services' and called for primary care to play a more pivotal role in early identification, intervention, and co-ordination of support. 1 Since then, the scale of this issue has grown; referrals to specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have increased, waiting times have lengthened, and general practice remains one of several universal settings, alongside schools, at the forefront of an under-resourced system struggling to meet demand 2 .The policy landscape, however, has shifted significantly.Recent developments, including the 10-Year Health Plan 3 and NHSE's National Implementation Guidance for Urgent and Emergency CYP Mental Health Care 4 , signal a system moving towards integration, prevention, and earlier intervention.The most transformative change for primary care is the introduction of Neighbourhood Multidisciplinary Teams (NMDTs) for CYP, closely aligned with Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) described in the 10-Year Health Plan, and the continued national roll-out of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in schools and colleges.Together, these initiatives shift mental health care closer to where young people live, learn and seek help.5