Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – Mental Health Survey 2025

1. Mental Health Survey - Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Are you between 17 and 25 years old? Have you used Mental Health Services? We would like to know what you think.

Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough want to hear from young people aged 17 to 25 who have experience of mental health services — or from family members, parents or carers completing the survey on their behalf.

This survey is designed to be quick and easy and should only take 5-10 minutes – simply tick the boxes that match your answers. There are also spaces if you’d like to add any extra comments.

Please complete this survey by 31st August 2025 (survey may close earlier.).

If you’re a parent or carer, please make sure you're sharing the young person's own views and experiences as much as possible.

About this survey

We’ve been working with local communities and professionals to set our goals for the future (2025–2030). One of the biggest things that came up was mental health.

This year, our big event – the Healthwatch Summit – is happening on 8th October 2025 with 200 people in attendance. It’s all about mental health, and we’ll be sharing the results of this survey at that event.

Why are we doing this survey?

Because we’re hearing that things aren’t working the way they should.

People are waiting too long for help.
It’s hard to know where to go or who to talk to.
Services often don’t talk to each other – or to the people using them.
Young people often feel ignored or left out of decisions.

We’ve already heard from loads of people, but now we want to hear directly from you.

What’s this survey for?

We want to hear your real experiences – what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change, especially around that tricky time when you move from youth to adult mental health services.

This project is a team effort. We’re working with lots of great local organisations like:

CPFT (Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS mental health services)
The SUN Network
MIND Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire
Fullscope
Integrated Care System
Peterborough City Council
Cambridgeshire County Council

How we use the information in this survey

The information you share with us will help us to identify areas for improvement in mental health services. We may use quotes in our future reports and at our Summit as explained above, but we will not use any information that will identify you. We will log your feedback and share what you tell us with the organisations who make decisions about mental health services. We take out any information that could identify you when we do this.

Find out more about how we handle your information in our privacy statement at healthwatchcambridgeshire.co.uk/privacy

We have Love2Shop £15 vouchers to thank you for your time!
As a thank you for your time in completing this survey, we would like to send you a £15 Love2Shop voucher. If you would like to receive the voucher, we will need your name, full postal address and telephone number. Vouchers will only be sent by post once we receive your completed survey. People who have sent their name and address to claim vouchers may be called to verify the contact details for security purposes only. The information will not be used for any other purpose, and all personal details will be deleted from our systems within 3 months of the survey closing. Vouchers will not be sent via email. Vouchers cannot be given if the Parent/Carer section at the end (section 8) is the only part of the survey completed. One voucher per person.

Please note: We may collect metadata (such as IP address and browser type) to support data quality checks and prevent duplicate or automated responses. This information is stored securely and is not used to personally identify you.
Your responses are confidential. To ensure fair use, some responses may be randomly reviewed, and duplicate or suspicious entries will be removed during analysis.
Please only complete this survey once. It is intended for young people aged 17–25 in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who have accessed care.

Let’s Start!

Young people’s mental health services provide help up to adulthood and when they move onto adult services, this may include the following organisations:

1. Please tick the services that you used *

Other service, please tell us:

2. Who is filling in this survey? *

I’m a person between the age of 17 and 25 years old
I’m a family member/parent/carer of a young person

Section 1 - Getting referred for help

3. How old were you when you were referred for help? *

4. Who referred you to the service? *

Please say who:

5. While you were waiting, did you get any help? (tick as many as you want) *

I didn’t have to wait (go straight to section 2)
I got regular telephone calls
Online support (apps, website)
School or College
My GP surgery
Help from another service (like MIND, Centre33) - please tell us below
Other (please state below)
I didn’t get any help

Comment:

6. If you didn’t get any help, do you think it would have made a difference?

Yes
No
Maybe
Not sure

7. How long did you wait before getting help?

8. Did waiting for help affect you? (tick as many as you want)

9. How did you feel while you were waiting? (tick as many as you want)

Section 2 – Your Time with the Youth Mental Health Service

10. How old were you when you started getting help? *

11. If you did get help from youth services, what kind of help did you get? (tick as many as you want)

Talking therapy or counselling
Medication
One to one or group treatment
Online service (if you know which one, please say below)
Other (please specify):

Online service:

12. Overall, how was your experience?

13. What went well? (tick as many as you want)

I felt listened to
I got the help I needed
I was seen quickly when needed
I had a good relationship with my worker or therapist
My care was well organised
Things were explained clearly
My family/carers were involved (if I wanted them to be)
I was helped to become more independent
Other (please specify):

14. If things didn’t go well? What were the problems? (tick as many as you want)

15. Were you referred directly to adult services?

16. If you answered Yes to question 15, did you feel your move to adult services was successful?

Yes. If Yes, go to Section 4.
No

17. How did you feel about not moving to adult services? (tick any that fit)

Section 3 – Moving to Adult Mental Health Services

Only answer this if you have moved from youth to adult mental health services.

18. How old were you when you moved to adult services? (Or did your help stop?)

19. Did someone explain in advance that you would move to adult services?

20. Did you feel ready to move?

21. Were you involved in planning your move?

22. Did you have someone to help you through the move?

Section 3A – If Your Help Stopped

23. A. Did you want the help to stop?

Yes (please go to question E, F and G)
No

24. B. If you answered no to the above question

How did you feel about your help stopping? (Tick any that fit)

25. C. Were you told it would stop?

26. D. Did they explain why you were not moved to adult services?

27. E. Were you told how to get help again if needed?

28. F. Were you referred to another different service?

If Yes, please specify:

29. G. If you answered yes to F, which emoji best describes how satisfied you were with that other service?

Section 4 – Your Experience with Adult Mental Health Services

30. Are you getting any help from adult mental health services now or have received help in the last 5 years?

31. How did moving to adult services go for you? (tick as many as you want)

32. Was there a gap between getting help from youth services and adult services?

33. If yes, how long was the gap?

34. How does the help you get in adult services compare to youth services? (tick any that fit)

The help got better
The help got worse
It stayed about the same
I felt/feel more listened to in adult services
I felt/feel more listened in the youth service
Youth service were/is more helpful
Adult service were/is more helpful
I didn’t notice much difference
Other (please specify):

Section 5 – How the Move Between Services Went

35. What worked well during your move? (tick as many as you want)

I got clear information about what would happen
Youth and adult services worked well together
I met my new team before the move
I had a person to support me
I felt involved in decisions
People understood what I needed
Other (please specify):

36. What do you wish had been different? (tick as many as you want)

I wish I had more information about the move
I wish I had more time to prepare
I wish I had more say in what happened
I wish I had met my new team earlier
I wish youth and adult services worked better together
I wish my care stayed the same
I wish I could have stayed with youth services longer
Other (please specify):

37. How would you rate the move between services?

38. Is there anything else you would like to tell us? If yes, please say

Section 6

You’re in control of your story

You don’t have to give your name, email, or phone number to fill in this survey – that’s totally up to you.

But if you’re over 18 and happy to share more, we’d love to hear if you’d be open to talking about your experience in future. If you’re under 18, we’d need to get permission from your parent or carer first.

Why are we asking?

Real stories help us show what needs to change in the mental health system. When people hear real experiences – at events, in campaigns, or even in the media (like newspapers, TV or radio) – it can make a big difference.

You might also get the chance to work with us again in small groups, where we talk more about experiences (always anonymously) to help professionals better understand what needs fixing.

✅ If you say yes, we’ll only contact you if we think your story could really help.

🙅 We’ll never share your name or contact details without talking to you first.

🗂 If you agree, we’ll keep your details for up to 2 years.

39. Please tick the boxes that feel right for you: *

Yes, I’m happy for Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to contact me about using my story in a campaign, at our big annual summit this year, or with the media.
No, I don’t want to be contacted about using my story in a campaign or with the media.
Yes, I’m happy for Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to contact me about doing some group work to share ideas and experiences.
No, I don’t want to be contacted about group work.
I would like to receive the Healthwatch newsletter via email

You will need to provide your name, postal address and telephone number if you would like to receive a Love2Shop voucher - your details will not be used for any other purpose.

40. Contact Details

Name:

41. Telephone Number:

42. Address:

43. Email: (optional)

Section 7

Tell us a bit about you (if parents/carers/family members are completing this questionnaire on behalf of someone, the following details are related to the young person).

It would really help to know a little more about you so we can better understand how people’s experiences may differ. These questions are completely voluntary.

44. Where do you live?

45. Please tell us your age now (at the time of completing this survey)

46. How would you describe your ethnicity?

47. How would you describe your gender?

48. Do you have any conditions? (tick as many as you want)

Section 8

For Parents/Carers - Optional