Mentalhealth

The recognition by the Scottish Government that mental health should be at the heart of any public health strategy, as outlined recently in its priorities for public health, is to be greatly welcomed. However, these words must be matched by actions, and this includes a much greater focus on prevention and early intervention in the face of a greatly increased demand on services.

It is estimated that around three children in every classroom has a clinically diagnosable mental health problem and 50 per cent of mental health problems are established by the age of 14 and 75 per cent by the age of 24.

However, it should be noted that despite this greatly increased demand, less than 0.5 per cent per cent of total NHS expenditure is spent on specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This is equivalent to a mere 50p in every £100 of the NHS budget being spent on CAMHS.

In addition to increasing investment in CAMHS, preventing mental health problems through building personal resilience during childhood and adolescence is essential. This includes the need for greater education and support within schools.

In this context, all secondary schools should also have a qualified and appropriately experienced counsellor, providing support to troubled and/or distressed children and young people, including those with mental health difficulties. Scotland is currently the only UK country with no

national strategy for schoolbased counselling services.

In Wales, the vast majority of young people who received counselling (88 per cent) did not require any form of onward referral once counselling had been completed.

Investing a fraction of the mental health budget on school-based counselling services helps to keep children in school and avoid unnecessary and often stigmatising mental health diagnoses, as well as reducing the burden on the already stretched and costly CAMHS provision – the cost of five sessions of counselling is equivalent to just one contact with CAMHS.

We applaud the Scottish Government for its ongoing commitment to mental health and well-being, but note that this commitment to place it at the heart of its public health strategy must be matched by the appropriate resources.

Scottish Children’s Services Coalition: TOM MCGHEE, chairman, Spark of Genius; DUNCAN

DUNLOP, chief executive, Who Cares? Scotland; STUART

JACOB, director, Falkland House School; NIALL KELLY, managing director, Young Foundations;

LYNN BELL, CEO, Love Learning

Scotland