Children suffer as mental services struggle
Report says many turned away or facing long waits
CHILDREN’S MENTAL health services are buckling under intense pressure, campaigners warn, in the wake of bleak findings over access to treatment and “unacceptable” waiting times.
Almost a quarter of children were turned away from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in England last year, a report by the Education Policy Institute has found, as referrals to specialist care have risen 26 per cent over five years.
Thousands of young people are falling through the gaps as a result, school leaders warn, citing cases of children being taken to A&E to ensure they can access timely support. Now, as it emerges such findings aren’t routinely collected by Government, the report authors have called for a more consistent approach when it comes to accountability.
“The Government is specifically transforming services, but there is such a long way to go,” report author Jo Hutchinson told The Yorkshire Post.
“The Government doesn’t catalogue these kinds of figures – in terms of its transformation, it’s difficult to see how they will know if it’s succeeding or not.”
The past five years have seen a “substantial” increase in referrals to children’s mental health services, yesterday’s EPI report found, warning that services are facing strain.
At least 55,800 children were refused treatment in 2017/18, it adds, primarily because their conditions were not deemed serious enough despite including those who had self-harmed. Waiting lists for treatment, though improving, were still falling short, it concluded, averaging 60 days – twice as long as the Government’s new standard outlined in its mental health green paper.
It also found that a quarter of local authorities have phased out vital alternative services including school-based mental health services and family counselling.
“Our research finds no significant improvement in access to children’s mental services over the last few years, with a number of treatment gaps evident in a system that is coming under increased pressure from rising referral rates,” report author Whitney Crenna-Jennings concluded.
Anna Cole, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the report showed a “bleak” picture for vulnerable young people, compounded by cutbacks to local authority services. Schools and teachers are having to support young people in severe distress, she warned, to the extent of taking them to A&E to access timely support.
And Emily Cherry, assistant director of policy for Barnardo’s, said access to early intervention is key to easing the strain on vulnerable young people.
“We are walking into a mental health crisis if we don’t get access to that early support,” she said.
“There is a real concern that children, right now, are facing unrelenting pressures in their lives. We are stepping up these problems for young people if we don’t give them access to the support they need.”
MENTAL HEALTH problems in the young are a growing issue for society, with ever-increasing numbers of children needing specialised help if their lives are not to be blighted by a potentially debilitating condition.
The challenges of modern life, whether they be difficulties at home, the stress of exams, or the dark side of social media that can see some children become the victims of cyberbullying are all increasing the pressures on young people, some of whom are struggling to cope.
As a society, we cannot allow these children to suffer alone.
Yet the deeply concerning figures from the Education Policy Institute suggest that is exactly what is happening, with almost a quarter being turned away by mental health services despite being victims of abuse or showing extremely worrying behaviour, such as self-harming. At the same time, referrals to the services have increased, also by about a quarter, which must be taken as evidence of the growing incidence of mental health problems.
The numbers of children involved are truly shocking, with more than 55,000 not receiving the help they obviously need.
This is an issue that the Government needs to address as a matter of urgency. Plainly, the services that seek to help children are under an unacceptable level of strain, and need to be both reviewed to determine the level of demand and funded accordingly.
The Department of Health claims that 70,000 more children will have access to help by 2020/21 are welcome, but do beg the question of what happens to those being turned away between now and then. As with any illness, mental health issues need to be tackled as early as possible if treatment is to stand the best chance of success. The Government should rethink this timetable to give children’s services the additional help they need immediately.