News

Children, young people and families across north London will benefit from NHS organisations working more closely together to make mental health services easier to access and use, so they get the right help sooner.
 
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) has been confirmed as the lead provider for a new provider collaborative for children and young people’s mental health services across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington. From April 2026, NLFT is working in partnership with the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the Whittington Health NHS Trust to deliver a more coordinated and consistent approach to supporting children, young people and their families.  
 
The collaborative has been established at a time of growing need. In line with national trends, demand for children and young people’s mental health support has risen sharply in recent years. Local services are experiencing sustained increases in referrals alongside growing complexity of need. National evidence indicates that around one in five children and young people now present with a probable mental health condition, highlighting the urgent need for early, accessible and joined up support that can respond to this growing demand.
 
As lead provider, NLFT will play a central role in coordinating services across the collaborative. This includes working with partner organisations to strengthen how services connect and improve consistency of care and service offers across boroughs.  NLFT is one of the largest providers of mental health services in the country, delivering community and specialist mental health care for children, young people and adults across north London.  
 
In its first year, the collaborative will focus on the following key areas where working together can make the biggest difference:

• A simpler way to get help early, so children, young people, parents, carers and professionals can go to one place for advice and access to services
• Improving core community mental health services, ensuring access and experience are consistent across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington
• Enhancing crisis support, so children and young people experiencing urgent mental health needs are supported more quickly, with clearer pathways to ongoing care
• Improving neurodevelopmental pathways, reducing waiting times for autism and ADHD assessments 

 

Alongside this, the collaborative will improve how NHS services share and use information, including developing ways to better understand demand and manage waiting times. The collaborative will also create opportunities for staff to work more closely together, share expertise and deliver care in a more coordinated way.

Sisa Moyo, who is leading the collaborative for NLFT said: 

“Formalising our collaboration is a hugely exciting moment for children and young people’s mental health services. As a provider collaborative, we can move quickly, be bolder in how we transform services, and deliver the consistent, accessible and high-quality support that children and families deserve.”