SUPPORT for children with mental health problems is being transferred to a London based NHS trust.

The current care provider, North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust lost its contract during a bidding process, which was won by the North East London Foundation Trust.

The new £13.2million deal, covering the whole of Essex, will hand the service to the Londonbased trust in November, with many staff who run local services moving over, too.

However, the residential St Aubyn Centre, in Colchester, will remain in the hands of the North Essex trust.

An Essex County Council spokesman said the aim was to allow a single organisation to respond earlier to children’s needs to help prevent, reduce or delay the need for more specialist interventions.

West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group chief officer Clare Morris said: “This is the beginning of a new era in mental health and wellbeing support for our children.

Our long-term goal is to build more resilient young people with earlier access, support and interventions at the right time in their lives.”

The new regime will focus more on self-help and services based in schools and the community, allowing larger numbers of young people to get help without needing mental health professionals.

Stephanie Dawe, chief nurse at the London trust, said: “We want to create a modern service that fits in with children’s lives in a way that best suits them.

“A single point of access into the service, better signposting and use of digital channels to access support and services will allow more children to obtain help and support, or even allow them to help themselves sooner.”