CWP & EMHP Competency Assessment Scheme

Education and Training Light Touch Regime.

NHS England seeks to commission a competency assessment scheme for Children's Mental Health Practitioners (CWP) and Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP).

The NHS England (NHSE) Workforce, Training & Education Directorate (WT&E) National Mental Health Programme aims to address the mental health workforce priorities as outlined on the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS LTP, January 2019) and Mental Health Implementation Plan (July 2019), and the recently published Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP).

At least one-in-four people experience a mental health problem at some point in their life and it is the single largest cause of disability in the UK. NHSE WT&E is committed to ensuring that the workforce is equipped with the skills and knowledge to provide high-quality, person-centred, mental health care and is working with key strategic partners and stakeholders to grow and develop this workforce, supporting the best skill mix to deliver evidence-based mental health care in the optimal way to improve health outcomes.

The NHSE WT&E national Mental Health programme commissions a range of training and education programmes, in line with annual Business and Delivery plans to enable delivery of key priorities aligned to the NHS LTP commitments.

The Children and Young People's Mental Health (CYP MH) team within the National Mental Health Programme, have developed a robust business and delivery plan for 2024/25 to support workforce development and expansion. The annual WT&E CYP MH delivery plan is directly aligned to achieving the priorities outlined within the NHS LTWP, specifically increasing the psychological professions workforce, utilising training as a supply pipeline.

Both CWP and EMHP roles are identified explicitly within the NHS LTWP , and are crucial to the ambition in the NHS LTP to expanding access to mental health support, therefore the education and training enabling these roles to practice confidently and safely is a high priority for NHSE Policy and WT&E directorates. WT&E is responsible for commissioning the required education and training to address demand and workforce expansion requirements, and NHSE Policy are responsible for supporting services and systems to make effective use of new roles to support delivery of high quality care.

Across the CYP MH workforce, a range of professional registration opportunities exist to support public confidence in a highly trained, skilled and experienced workforce, delivering the best quality care for children, young people and families. Professional registration became an expectation for anyone working in CWP and EMHP roles from April 2024.

Further details and the tender documents can be accessed from the link below.

https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome

Additional information: To express interest and participate in the tender, please register and apply via Atamis e-sourcing portal https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome.

Should Tenderers have any queries, or having problems using the portal, they should contact Helpdesk at:

Phone: 0800 9956035

E-mail: [email protected]