The conference – organised by the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) at the newly formed Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust – will be held at Trinity Park, Ipswich from 9am to 4:45pm.

The event will bring together a range of organisations – including the Trust, Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk Constabulary, the Matthew Project and Suffolk Young Carers – who will address the issue ‘Is CAMHS still everybody’s business?’

The organisations present will have exhibition stands, and guest speakers will be Dawn Rees, a former national programme director for child and adolescent mental health improvement, and Ros Rozpoppa, senior improvement lead with Enable East, an NHS organisation that helps other public sector bodies to make improvements.

Steve Hunt, the Trust’s CAMHS operational manager for Suffolk, said: “The event is partly about bringing together statutory and voluntary agencies and giving them a chance to highlight their services; partly about the Trust showcasing some of the improvements we have made to our own services; and partly about discussing how all these agencies can work together to help children and young people in the future.

“These are difficult times for the NHS, and for CAMHS services, but we have still made improvements. We have reduced waiting lists, improved 24-hour access to our services, and introduced outreach services and support which can keep young people out of hospital, or support them when they return to the community. This conference is about looking to see what further improvements we can make in partnership with other agencies.”

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust was formed at the start of the year from the merger of Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.