Please complete this survey if you are:
- A practitioner working with children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism.
- A parent or carer of a child or young person with a learning disability and/or autism.
- A young person with a learning disability
- An autistic young person
- An autistic young person who also has a learning disability
Background
- NHS England have funded Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) to set up a Keyworker Service
- Keyworker support will be provided to children and young people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic who are inpatients in, or at risk of being admitted to, a mental health hospital
- These projects have been set up and tested across the country since 2020
- BSW is one of the remaining 16 areas of the country that now have funding and are introducing keyworking services during 22/23. This means all areas of England now have or are in the process of implementing a community keyworking model
- We need your help to develop the keyworker service across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire so that children, young people, families and carers benefit from the additional support that a key worker will be able to give.
What is a Keyworker?
A key worker is a new role. Key workers will work alongside young people (up to 25) and their families who are heading towards a mental health crisis. Help isn't always easy to find. The Keyworker will make sure that the right services are involved and understand what is needed. They will provide young people and their families with the confidence to understand what help is available in the future, if needed again.
Keyworkers will work closely with:
- children and young people with a learning disability
- autistic children and young people, and
- autistic children and young people who also have a learning disability and their families/carers.
Why is there a need for Keyworkers?
We know:
- Systems for supporting these children, young people and families in local areas can be complex.
- Where organisations are not well joined up, children and families can fall through the gaps.
- People struggle to find the help they need at the right time, of a high quality.
- Long waiting lists and eligibility criteria can make finding the right support at the right time hard to find.
- Where crises happen and help is not available locally, children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both may end up in crisis mental health settings that are not always well placed to meet their needs.
- Once in a crisis mental health setting often children and young people are also at risk of getting stuck and staying there longer than necessary
What are we asking you to do?
- Have your say about how Keyworking could work across BSW.
- NHS BSW have the funding to implement this project.
- A suitable model for the area needs to be agreed by March 2023 and it is anticipated that the service will go live in October 2023.
- We want to guide you through the models and give you the chance to comment based on your current experiences.
- We will then review all feedback and identify a preferred model for the area.
- If you would like to remain involved in the project then please email: bswicb.bsw-tcc@nhs.net
- There will be opportunities to be involved in the development of the roles, recruitment, evaluation and monitoring of the service.
B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire Keyworker Project - Survey