JSNA resilience and emotional wellbeing

Resilience is the ability to cope with life's challenges and to adapt to adversity. Resilience helps us to maintain our wellbeing in difficult circumstances and protects against the development of some mental health problems.

Emotional wellbeing involves utilising strengths rather than focusing on fixing problems or weaknesses. The better able to master emotions, the greater capacity to enjoy life, cope with stress and focus on important personal priorities.

Adults' health and wellbeing

This section includes:

  • access to psychological therapies
  • hospital admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental and behavioural disorders
  • self harm
  • self-reported wellbeing
  • suicide

Access to psychological therapies

Why this is important

Around one in six adults in England suffer from a common mental health problem, such as depression or an anxiety disorder. The effectiveness of local IAPT (improving access to psychological therapies) services is measured using this indicator and the IAPT access rate which focuses on the access to services as a proportion of local prevalence.

Research evidence indicates that 50% of people treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression or anxiety conditions recover during treatment. The use of CBT and evidence based psychological therapies for the treatment of depression and anxiety is outlined in the relevant NICE quality standards.

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

Barnsley’s current rate (March 2019) of people entering IAPT as a percentage of those estimated to have anxiety/depression (18.9%) is similar to the England average of 19.1%

When compared to other clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) within the Yorkshire and the Humber region, Barnsley is ranked 6th lowest out of 20.

When compared to similar CCGs, Barnsley is ranked 4th lowest out of 11.

View the trend and comparator data charts for improving access to psychological therapies.

Resources and supporting documents

Hospital admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental and behavioural disorders

Why this is important

Mental health problems are common among those needing treatment for substance misuse and substance misuse is common among those with a mental health problem. Every year drug misuse costs the NHS in England £488 million and it is estimated the wider cost to society is £15.4 billion.

Investing in drug treatment cuts crime and saves money. Every £1 spent on drug treatment saves £2.50 in costs to society and treatment already saves an estimated £960 million costs to the public, businesses, criminal justice and the NHS.

Drug-related admissions can be reduced through local interventions to reduce substance  misuse and harm.

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

Barnsley’s current rate (2017/18) for hospital admissions where drug related mental and behavioural disorders were a factor (187 per 100,000) is higher than the England average of 157 per 100,000. In terms of numbers, the rate of 187 per 100,000 represents 435 hospital admissions for Barnsley residents during 2017/18 for drug related mental and behavioural disorders.

When compared to other local authorities within the Yorkshire and Humber region, Barnsley is ranked 6th highest out of 15.

View the trend and comparator data charts for hospital admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of drug related mental and behavioural disorders.

Resources and supporting documents

Self harm

Why this is important

In contrast to the trends in completed suicide, the incidence of self-harm has continued to rise in the UK over the past 20 years and, for young people at least, is said to be among the highest in Europe (Royal College of Psychiatrists 2010)

The recently released 'Preventing suicide in England: Two years on second annual report on the cross-government outcomes strategy to save lives, review of data published by the 'Multicentre study of self-harm in England' show that:

  • Rates of self-harm declined in both genders from 2003 until 2008 and then started rising in males until 2012.
  • The decline in rates in females levelled off after 2008. This pattern is similar to that seen for national suicide rates over the same period.
  • The Multicentre Study data from England showed a rise in self-harm in girls (but not boys) under the age of 16 years in 2010-12 compared to 2007-9. This rise was seen for both the number of self-harm episodes involving girls under 16 years (which increased by 16%) as well as the number of girls under 16 years presenting with self-harm (which increased by 10%), but was much smaller than the increase reported based on Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).(Hawton et al 2015)

Data on self-harm trends using HES data may be somewhat misleading and the large rise they suggest probably reflects improved data collection. The report also highlighted that suicide risk is raised 49-fold in the year after self-harm, and the risk is higher with increasing age at initial self-harm. (PHE 2019)

Self-harm is poorly understood in society and people who harm themselves are subject to stigma and hostility. People who self- harm do so due to emotional distress and the act is used as a way of coping with feelings and reducing tensions.

Self-harm is defined as an intentional act of self-poisoning or self-injury irrespective of the type of motivation or degree of suicidal intent. However, following an episode of self-harm, there is a significant and persistent risk of suicide which varies markedly between genders and age groups.

Self-harm is one of the top five causes of acute medical admission and those who self-harm have a 1 in 6 chance of repeat attendance at A&E within the year. One study of people presenting at Accident & Emergency (A&E) showed a subsequent suicide rate of 0.7% in the first year - 66 times the suicide rate in the general population. After 15 years, 4.8% of males and 1.8% of females had died by suicide.

Aside from the obvious danger of death, self-harm and suicide attempts can be seriously detrimental to an individual's long-term physical health, if they survive. Paracetamol poisoning is a major cause of acute liver failure. Self-cutting can result in permanent damage to tendons and nerves, not to mention scarring and other disfigurements. The NICE guidelines on self-harm note that people who have survived a medically serious suicide attempt are more likely to have poorer outcomes in terms of life expectancy.

An additional NICE evidence update was issued in April 2013 focussing on longer-term management of self-harm. There is also evidence of an independent association between people's physical ill health and their self-harm but it is not clear whether this is associated with pain or personality factors.

Those at greater risk include:

  • Women - rates of deliberate self-injury are two to three times higher in women than men. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • Young people - Self-harming in young people is not uncommon (10-13% of 15-16-year-olds have self-harmed in their lifetime). (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • Older people who harm themselves are more likely to do so in an attempt to end their life. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • People who have or are recovering from drug and alcohol problems. (DoH 2015)

  • Self-harm in prisons is associated with subsequent suicide in this setting, suggesting that prevention and treatment of self-harm is an essential component of suicide prevention in prisons and with prison populations. (DoH 2015)

  • People who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or gender reassigned. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • Socially deprived people living in urban areas. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • Women of South-Asian ethnicity. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • Individual elements including personality traits, family experiences, life events, exposure to trauma, cultural beliefs, social isolation and income. . (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

  • Other factors such as education, housing and wider macro-socioeconomic trends such as unemployment rates may also contribute directly, or by influencing a person's susceptibility to mental health problems. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010)

Individual elements including personality traits, family experiences, life events, exposure to trauma, cultural beliefs, social isolation and income are also contributing risk factors.

Other factors such as education, housing and wider macro-socioeconomic trends such as unemployment rates may also contribute directly, or by influencing a person's susceptibility to mental health problems.

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

All ages:

  • Barnsley’s 2018/19 emergency hospital admissions rate for intentional self-harm per 100,000 population (333.3) is significantly higher than the England rate of 193.4 per 100,000.
  • Compared to similar authorities, Barnsley is ranked fourth highest out of 16.
  • The current rate is the highest since 2010/11, with a significant increase since 2016/17.
  • The current rate equates to 790 hospital admissions* in 2018/19 for Barnsley residents for self-harm.
  • At ward level, in 2015/16-2017/18, Kingstone, Stairfoot and Central wards had significantly higher rates of hospital admissions for intentional self-harm than the Barnsley average, and their rates had also been significantly higher for the previous four time periods. Hoyland Milton, Rockingham, Darton West, Penistone East and Penistone West wards had significantly lower rates than the Barnsley rate in 2015/16-2017/18.    (Source: Public Health England, North East Local Knowledge and Intelligence Service)

    * The number of first finished emergency admission episodes in patients (episode number = 1, admission method starts with 2), with a recording of self harm by cause code (ICD10 X60-X84) in financial year in which episode ended. Regular and day attenders have been excluded.

Children and young people:

10-14 years
  • Barnsley’s 2017/18 emergency hospital admissions rate for intentional self-harm per 100,000 10-14 years population (252.3) is similar to the England rate of 210.4 per 100,000.
  • Compared to similar authorities, Barnsley is ranked 7th out of 16.
  • The current rate equates to 34 hospital admissions** in 2017/18 for self-harm for Barnsley residents aged 10-14.

    ** Number of finished admission episodes in children where the main recorded cause is between X60 and X84 (Intentional self-harm)

15-19 years
  • Barnsley’s 2017/18 emergency hospital admissions rate for intentional self-harm per 100,000 15-19 years population (1,155.1) is significantly higher than the England rate of 648.6 per 100,000.
  • Compared to similar authorities, Barnsley is ranked the third highest out of 16.
  • The current rate is the highest since 2011/12, with a significant increase since 2016/17.
  • The current rate equates to 146 hospital admissions2 in 2017/18 for self-harm for Barnsley residents aged 15-19.
10-24 years
  • Barnsley’s 2017/18 emergency hospital admissions rate for intentional self-harm per 100,000 10-24 years population (695.2) is significantly higher than the England rate of 421.2 per 100,000.
  • Compared to similar authorities, Barnsley is ranked the third highest out of 16.
  • The current rate is the highest since 2011/12, with a significant increase since 2016/17.
  • The current rate equates to 274 hospital admissions2 in 2017/18 for self-harm for Barnsley residents aged 10-24.
20-24 years
  • Barnsley’s 2017/18 emergency hospital admissions rate for intentional self-harm per 100,000 20-24 years population (679.7) is significantly higher than the England rate of 406.0 per 100,000.
  • Compared to similar authorities, Barnsley is ranked the fourth highest out of 16.
  • The current rate is the highest since 2011/12.
  • The current rate equates to 94 hospital admissions2 in 2017/18 for self-harm for Barnsley residents aged 20-24.

Data from:

What we're doing and the assets or services we have

Mental Health First aid is being rolled out to all Secondary Schools across Barnsley to enable teachers and staff to be better equipped to spot signs of self-harm and support young people to get appropriate support.

A range of mental health training for adults is also being rolled out for multiagency professionals, business and the community through NHS funded suicide prevention projects in 2019-2021. These will include mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention training packages such as; Adult MHFA, Youth MHFA, ASIST, Safetalk, PABBS and bespoke training.

Barnsley CAMHS offers specialist support for CYP which include specialist nurses, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists, speciality doctors, trainee doctors, child psychologists, a family therapist and play therapist, social workers, occupational therapist and parenting specialist practitioners. CAMHS work in a variety of settings, including community clinics at Hoyland, Goldthorpe, Worsbrough, Royston, Darfield and Mapplewell, with children and families who experience any of the following mental health or emotional in problems which self-harm is included.

MINDSPACE is a local online resource which helps children and young people who struggle to manage and understand their feelings. With empathy, support and a range of constructive self-help tools, MinDspace helps children and young people lead happier, more confident, more sociable school and home lives. The website offers a quick access service for parents and also has a guide for teachers & GPs which includes a unique blend of early intervention support for young people and their parents. Find out more on the We Are Mindspace website.

Barnsley IAPT - There are many different ways that IAPT can help. The aim is to teach you skills and techniques to help you manage everyday ups and downs. We have a wide range of options including one to one, face to face, telephone, internet-based therapy and courses. IAPT can discuss which option would be better for you. Services are available in the local community in order to allow more people access the correct treatment. Find out more about Barnsley IAPT.

The Exchange Recovery College is a wellbeing college based in Barnsley which aims to help adults who would like to improve their mental wellbeing or knowledge to aid their work with others. It offers a range of courses and one-off workshops which all aim to improve wellbeing through learning. Courses focus on being mentally and physically healthy, staying well and developing the knowledge and strength to overcome the challenges that we can all face at times in our lives. Courses aren’t therapy –but aim to provide a positive learning approach in which we all share knowledge and provide the space to reflect on your own health and understanding. Find out more about The Exchange Recovery College.

Future developments

BMBC and partners are exploring ways to prevent self-harm in Barnsley. Any work with/ for children and young people will include awareness raising of the dangers of self-harm for parents and carers.

Additional resources

Self-reported wellbeing

Why this is important

People with higher wellbeing have lower rates of illness, recover more quickly and for longer, and generally have better physical and mental health.

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

  • Almost three quarters (74.38%) of Barnsley respondents had a high happiness score in 2018/19; slightly higher than the Y&H rate of 74.22% and slightly lower that the England rate of 76.46%.
  • Compared to statistical neighbours, Barnsley’s rate is the 8th highest, and in the second best quartile.
  • Compared to other Y&H authorities, Barnsley’s rate is the 6th highest, and in the second worst quartile.
  • Of the four South Yorkshire authorities, Barnsley’s rate is the second highest (after Sheffield).
  • The rate has increased from the 2011/12 rate of 66.15%.

Caveat:
It is important to remember that the indicator is just an estimate, based on a sample
of the population from each area.

View the trend and comparator data charts for self-reported wellbeing.

Resources and supporting documents

Suicide

Why this is important

Suicide is preventable and suicides are not inevitable; they are often the end point of a complex history of risk factors and distressing events; the prevention of suicide has to look to address these complexities. This can only be done by working collaboratively across all sectors. Suicide causes much distress to the families and friends affected and this is one of the key areas for consideration in suicide prevention. Suicide prevention is also one of the indicators in the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) and so it falls under the strategic responsibility of the Director of Public Health.

Suicide remains a major public health problem as someone takes their own life every 90 minutes, with around 6,000 lives lost in the UK every year. The effects of these suicides are devastating, felt across the wider community, by family, friends, colleagues and witnesses, often shattering lives. Although suicide rates have reduced in recent years, men are still three times more likely to die by suicide than women and the highest rate of suicide is still among men aged 45-49.

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health set out clear recommendations on suicide prevention and reduction and made a commitment to reduce suicides by 10% nationally by 2020/21. Alongside this, Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt announced a zero-suicide ambition for mental health inpatients in January of this year.

In May 2021 Barnsley’s Mental Health Partnership publicly committed to a zero- suicide ambition. This is a bold and ambitious pledge, which drives forward partnership working and bold and innovative approaches to improve Barnsley residents’ mental health and wellbeing.
Barnsley’s Mental Health Partnership is an alliance of people and organisations across the borough focused on improving people’s mental health; this includes support for people contemplating suicide. We want to instil hope into individuals and communities that suicide is preventable and tackle the stigma associated with poor mental health. We also want to ensure people know where to go for help when they need it.

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

  • Barnsley’s 2018/20 suicide rate per 100,000 population (12.7) is similar to the England rate of 10.4 per 100,000. It is worth noting 2020 data is provisional due to a backlog of inquests due to the pandemic.
  • Barnsley is ranked 11th out of 16 similar authorities (where 1 is the best rate).
  • Rates have fluctuated over recent years, with the lowest rate being 6.6 per 100,000 in 2006-08 and the highest being the current rate of 12.7.
  • The current rate equates to approximately 27 deaths per year in Barnsley from suicide.
  • Barnsley’s male suicide rate is several times higher than the female rate (17.4 per 100,000 compared to 4.2 per 100,000) – this is also the case nationally.
  • In terms of related risk factors for suicide, Barnsley has higher rates than England for:
    • recorded depression
    • estimated users of opiates and/or crack cocaine
    • long-term health problems or disability
    • children in the youth justice system
    • marital breakups
    • people living alone (including older people)
    • long term claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance
    • hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions
    • emergency hospital admissions for intentional self-harm

Data from:

Public Health England (PHE) – Suicide Prevention profile 

The Suicide Prevention Profile has been produced to help develop understanding at a local level and support an intelligence driven approach to suicide prevention.  It collates and presents a range of publicly available data on suicide, associated prevalence, risk factors, and service contact among groups at increased risk.  It provides planners, service providers and stakeholders with the means to profile their area and benchmark against similar populations.

What we're doing and the assets or services we have

Local authorities are required to have a Local Suicide Prevention Action Plan as well as an established multiagency group to drive this forward. In January 2021 Barnsley formed a Mental Health Partnership which looked to address mental health holistically. In that time Barnsley has developed some excellent joint working between statutory partners and the voluntary sector to tackle suicides and suicide prevention is a priority the borough.

Local Work for suicide prevention

  • The commissioning of a suicide bereavement/listening service.
  • Local peer lead support group has been set up for those bereaved by suicide (SOBS – Survivors of bereavement by Suicide)
  • Commissioning a range of mental health and suicide awareness training across Barnsley.
  • Community Grants Scheme to deliver a range of projects as well as raise awareness of mental health support and tackle the stigma of suicide.
  • Established a South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw real time surveillance system with a designated role within South Yorkshire Police. An attempted suicide and self-harm system is also in development.
  • Purchasing a digital solution to share personal information to generate reports which will help us learn from every suicide.
  • Training package for schools on addressing self-harm which also offers advice and support to parents.
  • A Barnsley Andy’s Man Club had been set up to support Men with their mental health.
  • Children, Young People and Families Bereavement service has been set up to offer age-appropriate interventions and support.
  • Barnsley Psychosocial Engagement Team (PET) has been commissioned to offer early support for those who are suicidal or have had an attempt on their life offering a timely intervention.

Opportunities for improvement or future development

Whilst the issue of suicide is complex, Barnsley is making significant progress and we will strive to continue this work as well as deliver the above projects in line with the NHS England timescales. Establishing real-time surveillance is enabling us to be able to be more reactive to incidents and put support in place for anyone affected or bereaved by suicide. This has been recognised nationally and a manuscript of its evaluation has been submitted to a international journal.

Establishing Suspected Suicide Learning Panels is also allowing us to learn lessons from every suicide and change the way systems and services work to improve future outcomes for people with mental ill health. Future developments include:

  • Better support for those who have had a previous attempt
  • Better support for those with issues with alcohol or substance use and mental health (Dual Diagnosis)
  • Better support for people who have been a victim or perpetrator of domestic abuse.
  • Better support for residents with long term conditions and chronic pain.

Resources and supporting documents

  • Samaritans
    Samaritans campaigned for all local authorities to have suicide prevention plans in place but until now, no-one has known what these plans included across the country. This joint report with the University of Exeter provides the first ever nation-wide view of the breadth and depth of suicide prevention planning within local authorities in England. This is critical to understanding what needs to happen next to save more lives. Barnsley is also referenced in the report showing some examples good practice for our local action plan.

  • Suicide prevention: developing a local action plan
    This document is part of Public Health England’s ongoing programme of work to support the government’s suicide prevention strategy.

  • GOV.UK suicide prevention strategy
    This strategy has been developed with the support of leading experts in the field of suicide prevention, including the members of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, under the chairmanship of Professor Louis Appleby.

  • #AlrightPal
    Our #AlrightPal? campaign is all about starting the conversation around mental health and wellbeing as a first step towards suicide prevention as well as promoting services and projects to support residents with their mental health

  • Suicide prevention in England: fifth progress report
    The fifth progress report of the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England details the steps taken to reduce deaths by suicide since January 2019.

  • Suicide prevention: identifying and responding to suicide clusters

  • Suicide prevention: suicides in public places

  • National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health
    This study by the University of Manchester, has collected in-depth information on all suicides in the UK since 1996. The recommendations have improved patient safety in mental health settings and reduced patient suicide rates, contributing to an overall reduction in suicide in the UK. The evidence is cited in national policies and clinical guidance and regulation in all UK countries.



Children and young people's health and wellbeing

This section includes:

  • child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) - waiting time for treatment
  • children subject of a child protection plan with initial category of neglect
  • mental health admissions

CAMHS - waiting time for treatment

Why this is important 

One in ten young people has some form of diagnosable mental health. Addressing mental health issues in people's early years, particularly coping strategies can have a marked difference on a patients’ long-term health.

A 2018 survey of more than 2,000 parents and carers in England by mental health charity Young Minds found that 76 per cent thought their child’s mental health had deteriorated while waiting to access CAMHS, with longer waits linked to more serious declines in health.

The Government’s Green Paper transforming children and young people’s mental health provision includes a commitment to provide all children and young people, no matter where they live, with access to high quality mental health and wellbeing support and to reduce waiting times for treatment.

The Barnsley Picture and how we compare

Children subject of a child protection plan with initial category of neglect

Why this is important

If a child is considered to be suffering (or likely to suffer) significant harm, local authorities will make them the subject of a child protection plan.

The indicator, Children subject of a child protection plan with initial category of neglect, expresses the number of children subject to plans as a population based rate.  It allows us to compare our performance to benchmarks, most commonly national, regional and statistical neighbour averages.  Those comparisons help us to understand if the rate for Barnsley is in line with comparators or not.

If the rate for Barnsley is above comparators, this may mean there are higher proportions of vulnerable children in our area. 

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

The rate of children who a subject to a child protection plan with the initial category of neglect in Barnsley (2018) is 16.7 which is below the regional and national rates which are 19.5 and 21.8 respectively. Barnsley has the second lowest rate when compared with statistical neighbours. Rates in Barnsley have declined since 2016, when the rate was 34.8.

The latest data available for the indicator Children subject to a child protection plan covers 2017/18.  This shows the rate for Barnsley below all comparators at 37.7 per 10,000.  By comparison, the average rate for our statistical neighbours was 60.2 for the same period.

The rate for Barnsley increased significantly in 2014/15 and 2015/16, rising to a peak of 82.4.  Since then, the rate has fallen back to levels previously seen in 2013/14.

The provisional year to date figure for 2018/19 was 50.1 for Barnsley; an increase on 2017/18, but still likely to be below our statistical neighbours, based on recent trends.

What we're currently doing and the assets or services we have

We are, with the support of the Barnsley Safeguarding Children Partnership, are two years into at least a five year programme to tackle neglect.  We have introduced a Neglect Strategy and have implemented the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Graded Care Profile Two assessment and training. We have established a multi-agency, partnership response to neglect, working with the South Yorkshire Police, Health, Education, Housing, Early Support and Children’s Social Care.

We have formed a Neglect Sub-Group which is leading the Barnsley Neglect Strategy and Action Plan. This group oversees the neglect strategy and has developed a neglect action plan which monitors the effectiveness of the strategy and the roll out of the ‘graded care profile’ across all key partners.

Barnsley has adopted the use of the Graded Care Profile version 2 (GCP2), which is a tool to support the assessment of the degree of neglect for a child or in a family. This tool empowers and enables families and professionals to identify areas of strength and areas of concern, highlighting what a family is doing well and areas where they may need support. It also identifies where neglect is impacting on a child or young person’s development potential and their emotional health and well-being.

We have trained over 400 professionals to use the GCP2 and to identify and understand the impact of neglect.

We have run two multi-agency neglect conferences which were held in July 2018 and July 2019 and saw the coming together of over 250 professionals from across the partnership to discuss neglect and hear from key speakers in relation to neglect, obesity, dental health and attachment in the neglected child.    

Along with the NSPCC, BMBC has led a communication campaign working with the local published newspaper to highlight neglect and what we are doing about it. Additionally, an online seminar, was hosted by ‘Social Work Matters’, which is a programme that aims to attract and support social workers, in addition to improving social work practice and delivery across the Yorkshire and Humber region. All 15 local authorities have come together in a unique way to drive up industry standards and champion the vital role of children’s social work.

As a result of the multi-agency work, neglect is being talked about across agencies and there is a better understanding of the identification and impact of neglect.  

Effective use of the strategy and GCP2 assessment tool is supporting partners and practitioners across the spectrum of need to ensure that neglect is recognised and responded to consistently, at the right time and by the right people for the child and family. 

Simple and clear referral pathways have been established, with practice guidance that supports the recognition, assessment and management of neglect and contributes to evidence based, timely and appropriate identification of services to meet the need of the child and family.  Professionals in early help, school settings and other areas such as housing are using the GCP2 to evidence the help families need and to measure progress made.

Use of GCP2 in child protection case conference and in the court arena is providing evidence in order to ensure plans made for a child are right and do not contribute to drift and delay.

In our most recent feedback from the training 83% of participants found the training very good and 100% would recommend the training to other professionals.

Regular multi-agency audits of children living with neglect are helping to triangulate the effectiveness of the strategy and inform future training and development needs of the workforce in tackling one of our biggest, single challenges.

Opportunities for improvement or future developments

We want children in Barnsley to be protected from neglectful parenting and to help parents/carers understand what good parenting looks like by working with families in a way in which they can understand what needs to change.

We want professionals to be able to identify neglect at the earliest opportunity in order that children and families receive the right help and support at the right time.

Going forward we want to harness the quality of communities to help to identify neglect in order that no child is left in a situation of being neglected and this impacting upon their life chances.

Resources and supporting documents

Mental health admissions

Why this is important

One in ten children aged 5 to 16 years has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem and, of adults with long-term mental health problems, half will have experienced their first symptoms before the age of 14.

Self-harming and substance abuse are known to be much more common in children and young people with mental health disorders – with ten percent of 15 to 16 year olds having self-harmed.

Failure to treat mental health disorders in children can have a devastating impact on their future, resulting in reduced job and life expectations.

The Barnsley picture and how we compare

Barnsley’s current rate (2017/18) for hospital admissions of 0 to 17 year olds for mental health disorders (67.7 per 100,000) is lower than the England average of 84.7 per 100,000.

In terms of numbers, the rate of 67.7 per 100,000 represents 34 hospital admissions for Barnsley residents (aged 0 to 17) during 2017/18 for mental health disorders.

When compared to other local authorities within the Yorkshire and Humber region, Barnsley is ranked 6th highest out of 15.

When compared to similar local authorities, Barnsley is ranked 7th out of 16 (where 1 is the lowest rate).

View the trend and comparator data charts for mental health admissions 0-17 year olds.

Resources and supporting documents