Issue details

Proposed decision:

     I.        APPROVE amendments to the current Kent School Public Health Service  Specification from April 2026 specifically:

(a)the removal of the Children and Young People’s Counselling Service, from the school health contract;

(b) changes to target cohorts for Online Health Assessments,

(c) increased flexibility to Whole School Approach offer

(d) review and adaptation of the Emotional Wellbeing Package of Care to avoid duplication with Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) schools, better target need and improve outcome reporting;

    II.        APPROVE the required expenditure, via the Public Health Grant, from April 2026 to April 2031 (with an option to extend for a further 5 years to 2036) to implement the amendments to the Kent School Public Health Service

  III.        APPROVE the commissioning of a new standalone Therapeutic Support Service to support children and young people with mild to moderate emotional and mental health needs who are aged between school entry in Reception up to 19 years old. This service would be aligned with the wider Therapeutic Alliance model being procured by NHS Kent and Medway and be delivered as part of the Family Hub network. The service would commence from November 2025. 

  IV.        DELEGATE authority to the Director of public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health to implement the changes to the Kent School Public Health Service and undertake the required activity to establish a new standalone Therapeutic support service.

   V.        DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, to exercise relevant contract extensions and enter into relevant contracts or legal agreements; and  

  VI.        DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health, to take other necessary actions, including but not limited to allocating resources, expenditure, and entering into contracts and other legal agreements, as required to implement the decision. 

Background:

Kent County Council (KCC) commission the Kent School Public Health service (5 to 19 years). This service commenced on 1 April 2017 and ends on 31 March 2026.

The Service is currentlydelivered by Kent Community Health Foundation NHS Trust (KCHFT).

The contract includes CYP Counselling Service and the intention, following recent Public Consultation, is to commission a new CYP Therapeutic Support Service.

Decision:

The decision is to agree service model changes for the Kent School Public Health service (5 to 19 years) and new proposed CYP Therapeutic Support Service (TSS).

The main changes are to separate the emotional and wellbeing service from the Kent School Public Health service and commission both services separately.

Kent School Public Health service

To also make minor amendments to the service specification including; improved data reporting and flexibility to support a wider range of partnership i.e. colleges, amongst a number of other additional improvements.

These changes will be delivered through the re-commission of the Kent School Public Health service and a change to the service specification.

The positive changes will be that reporting is improved, that the service work with a wider range of partners and broaden its reach.

Therapeutic Support Service (TSS)

The establishment of a new standalone Therapeutic Support Service to support children and young people with mild to moderate emotional and mental health needs who are aged between school entry in Reception up to 19 years old. This service would be aligned with the wider Therapeutic Alliance model being procured by NHS Kent and Medway and be delivered as part of the Family Hub network.

Some of the positive changes will be; offering a range of opportunities for children and young people to take part in therapeutic activities, improving alignment with the wider system of children and young people’s mental health services.

Reason for Decision:

In July 2023, KCC commenced the Public Health Service Transformation Programme (PHSTP). The programme responded to a series of strategic developments, challenges, and opportunities in the commissioning landscape, and is underpinned by an evidence-based review of all internal and external Public Health funded services and grants.

The Programme required the evaluation of existing service models and collaboration with key stakeholders to identify recommendations for future service delivery.

Papers on this were presented in relation to Public Health Transformation (PHSTP) at Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee in January 2024, May 2024, November 2024 and January 2025.

As part of the PHSTP, stakeholder engagement and public consultation has been undertaken. All responses and contributions from the engagement and consultation have been analysed and informed this decision. A new service specification will be developed, which encompasses learning from all the engagement and consultation undertaken.

The Kent School Health Service leads the Healthy Child Programme for 5- to 19-year-olds. Delivery includes; health assessments, vision and hearing screening, delivery of the mandated National Child Measurement Programme (weighing and measuring), drop-in clinics and whole school approach support on mental health. The contract also includes the CYP Counselling service for children and young people with mild to moderate emotional wellbeing needs.

How the proposed decision meets the priorities of New Models of Care and Support as set out in ‘‘Framing Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy 2022 – 2026’’

Kent School Public Health Service supports the Council to achieve the following priorities set out in the Council’s Strategy 2022-2026 ‘Framing Kent’s Future’:

Framing Kent’s Future aligns with the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Strategy including to ‘strive for children and young people to be physically and emotionally healthy’ as part of the outcome to ‘Give child and young people the best start in life’ and 'to work with our partners to hardwire a preventative approach into improving the health of Kent’s population and narrowing health inequalities.' 

KCC has a statutory duty to improve the health of the population and reduce health inequalities (Health and Social Care Act 2012).

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future

The School Health service, as lead for the Healthy Child Programme, play a vital role in ensuring the effective and timely provision of preventative health and wellbeing services and can help meet key health and prevention priorities.