3. Integrated Care in Youth Mental Health

The government and NHS have made a commitment to reform mental health services for young people. The transition between youth and adult secondary mental health services is a recognised problem that we have tackled in previous work; however, we cannot rely purely on secondary mental health services to solve problems in mental health for two reasons.

First, the incidence of mental health problems among young people is rising faster than secondary mental health services can accommodate.

Second, the majority of severe mental health problems begin in adolescence and, if treated late, tend to recur throughout life.