Identifying and supporting mental health problems in children via general practice

We have launched an investigation exploring how mental health problems in children are identified and supported via general practice.

General practice can provide the first point of contact in the healthcare system for children with mental health problems. General practice teams include healthcare professionals such as nurses, mental health practitioners, social prescribers, and health and wellbeing coaches., They work alongside GPs to ensure patients receive the right care from the right healthcare professional.

We identified the need for this investigation after engagement with stakeholders, including representatives from national bodies and patient representative groups, to seek their insights in relation to patient safety issues associated with identifying and supporting mental health problems in children via general practice.

There was widespread concern that there are limitations and wide variation in early identification and intervention for children with mental health problems. When children cannot access the mental health support they need, when they need it, this can result in risk to life and other poor outcomes such as:

• poorer physical and mental health
• shorter life expectancy
• lower educational attainment
• challenges in entering or staying in work.

We triangulated the information from stakeholders with additional sources of evidence including families with lived experience, GPs, health datasets and academic literature.

The investigation will seek to:

1. Understand how general practice are supported to assess and identify mental health problems in children and the care they may require.
2. Identify what care general practice can deliver and coordinate for children with mental health problems who do not meet thresholds for specialist mental health services, that supports them in getting well, prevents deterioration and keeps them safe.

We expect to publish an investigation report in spring 2027.

We are keen to hear from anybody with an interest in this subject matter. This includes patients, families, carers and health and care professionals who may wish to share their experience. If you would like to speak to us about this investigation before we publish the final report, please email investigations@hssib.org.uk.