Two-thirds of UK children referred for mental healthcare not treated
Sixty percent of children and young people referred for specialist care by their GP are not receiving treatment, figures revealed. Data from 32 NHS Trusts in England showed about 60 percent of under-18s who are referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) by their GP are not receiving treatment, according to figures obtained by Spurgeons children’s charity, theguardian.com wrote.
The number of under-18s admitted to A&E for selfharm has increased by 50 percent in five years but outpatient treatment rates are falling, according to the charity. Self-harm admissions to A&E departments for young people have increased for the seventh year running according to figures from 59 A&E departments in England.
The sharp increase in the number of under-18s being admitted to hospital after poisoning, cutting or hanging themselves is more marked among girls, though an increase has also been seen among boys. About 77 percent of A&E or hospital admissions for self-harm were made by girls from 2010 to 2016.
The news comes after it emerged that children with anxiety and depression will be guaranteed treatment within four weeks in an effort to improve mental healthcare, but the lack of NHS staff and funding means the plan cannot be fully introduced until 2021.
In a bid to ease pressure on the system, Spurgeons children’s charity said it had created a new program — named FISH — for young people to help those who have selfharmed but do not have a mental health diagnosis and therefore do not qualify for specialist mental health support services such as CAMHS.
Jag Basra, an assistant psychologist and lead on FISH said, “The facts are harrowing. At least four young people in every secondary school class are now self-harming. Within the last decade we’ve seen a considerable rise in the range of mental health issues impacting young people, in part due to social media pressures and the ongoing stigma towards speaking about our mental health.”
Bernadka Dubicka, the chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ child and adolescent faculty, called on NHS England to stand by its pledge to invest an additional £1 billion in frontline mental health services and treat one million more people by 2021.
“Young people are presenting in ever greater numbers to A&E, GP referral rates have soared, and our workforce is struggling to meet this demand,” she said.
“Our young people urgently need access to timely specialist treatment as well as investment in early intervention and prevention [...]. This is a matter of life and death.”
The figures were ‘alarming’, said Tom Madders, campaigns director at Youngminds.
“We know from calls to our parents’ helpline that far too many young people with mental health problems do not get the help they need, and that too often the right support is not available until they reach crisis point,” he said.
“That’s why the government must ensure that CAMHS funding reflects the true scale of the need, and that money is not siphoned off to other priorities.”
Barbara Keeley MP, the shadow minister for social care and mental health, said the ‘continual increase’ in A&E admissions for under-18s due to self-harm was concerning.
“Children and young people’s mental health services will be plunged into further crisis by an inadequate Tory budget which ignored mental health entirely,” she said.
“The lack of access to services for two-thirds of children is a damning reminder of the Tories’ failure to match their warm words about mental health with action.”