University of Northampton and St Andrew’s Healthcare offer new degree-level training programme

The University of Northampton is delighted to announce it has validated an in-house training programme for a leading healthcare provider.

The programme will benefit St Andrew’s Healthcare staff who are caring for young people with challenging mental health needs.

The Working within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Services Training module within the BSc (Hons) Mental Health degree programme has been specifically designed for staff who are working with young people cared for as inpatients. The module aims to provide practitioners with contemporary knowledge in the delivery of specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

The University and St Andrew’s have an institutional partnership, and have worked together to develop several Higher Education courses. St Andrew’s also welcomes undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University on placements as part of their professional training for registration.

Steve O’Brien, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Society at the University, said: “This development represents another successful step in the strengthening of a key critical health partnership for the University and we are delighted with the outcome.”

Paul Bentham, Service Director for St Andrew’s CAMHS Pathway, added: “I’m thrilled and proud that we developed this specialist child and adolescent training for its clinicians in partnership with the University of Northampton. The training will support our teams and provide the skills needed to work closely with the young people in our care. Programmes like this move our services one step further to world class.”

The training – which will be taken by staff members in nursing, occupational therapy, social work and teaching – comprises of five components, covering: child/adolescent and family development, staff behavioural skills, self-care of professionals and team work and risk management.