Priti visits ‘incredible’ local children’s mental health facility
Witham MP Priti Patel, last week (Friday 26th July), visited The St Aubyn Centre in Colchester to meet with the staff looking after the children in this facility alongside representatives from EPUT, NELFT and CAMHS to discuss how we can improve mental health outcomes and reach young people earlier who may be neurodiverse as well as seeing first-hand the life changing care that the nursing staff at The St Aubyn Centre provide.
The site was built in 2012 and is a purpose-built unit for young people with a range of mental health needs, including depression, self-harm, psychosis, severe trauma reactions and emotional dysregulation, with accompanying risks that can no longer be safely managed in the community.
Priti discussed local mental health provision for children and young people and discussed how the CAMHS services are working with children and young people, parents, schools, and the wider community to support children in Essex who are struggling with mental health.
Priti said: ‘It was wonderful to visit the St Aubyn Centre and to see the incredible work they do with young people in the local community and how they positively impact young people’s lives. The professional teams in this facility provide incredible support and care to the young people using the services and it was a pleasure to speak to them more about the important work they do day in and day out.’