5th September 2025
With the arrival of September comes a new season, and a time for fresh starts and new beginnings. Across the country, children are returning to school, some stepping into the classroom for the very first time, while others begin a new chapter as they start college or university.
Many of us whether parents, carers, professionals, or system leaders feel the shift. It’s a moment of transition, not just for families, but for the health and care system too. “Back to school” offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on how we support children, young people, and families holistically and how we strengthen the systems around them.
Our Children and Young People offer lead, Claire Ball, reflects on how our systems can support families, especially in the context of the NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan.
Family Hubs: A Cornerstone for Early Help
The ambition to bring the NHS closer to patients through a neighbourhood health model brings an opportunity for the services that support families to be integrated within their communities. Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes are intended to offer seamless provision and a single access point for services. Family Hubs will bring together children’s services, NHS and public health to respond to needs early, reduce fragmentation, and ensure that all families can access the support they need when they need it.
Commissioners and providers have a unique opportunity to align services around these hubs, creating seamless pathways that respond to the lived experiences of families. But this requires collaboration, shared outcomes, and a commitment to co-design with communities.
Mental Health: A Growing Priority
The return to school can be an exciting time to reunite with friends and a familiar routine. For some, it can be a source of anxiety, adjusting to new environments, routines, and expectations. There is a need to embed mental health support in the community, recognising that universal settings, like schools, Family Hubs, and community organisations, all have a role to play. NHS England’s 10 Year Plan sets out a commitment to full national coverage of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in schools and colleges by 2029–30.
It is encouraging to see the plan emphasising early intervention and shifting towards more integrated support in the community. As we consider these opportunities to strengthen support for children, young people, and families, it’s clear that delivering on these ambitions requires practical tools, strategic insight, and collaborative approaches. At the TU we have expertise in Children and Young People’s clinical commissioning, working across health and social care.
How can the TU help you make these ambitions real?
- Support commissioners to develop integrated pathways from early help to crisis care. We can work across the system to review and redesign clinical pathways ensuring that they keep children and their families at the centre.
- Provide data and analytics to help you develop a robust case for change and to target resources and measure outcomes
- Business case development. As Better Business Case accredited practitioners, we understand the power of a compelling strategic case and the importance of a robustly modelled economic case to enable you to draw down the investment needed. We can help with short form business cases too, or to provide the strong justification for investment that you need.
- Co-produce with children, young people, and families, alongside health and care professionals. We bring independence to shaping ideas and decision making, we are experts in stakeholder engagement.
- Champion and facilitate cross-sector collaboration, especially at transition points between services. We can help to build trust and help manage relationships across sectors.
- Take a look at our website or contact us directly for more information on how we can help you.