Mental health needs of children soaring
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THE number of young people aged under 18 seeking help with mental health problems has rocketed in the Burton and Uttoxeter in the past year with more than 2,500 being treated in the past 12 months.
According to NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), there were 2,584 people under the age of 18 helped with mental health issues in East Staffordshire in 2017/18.
That a huge rise from the figure of 499 seen the previous year.
Lynne Barrell, a mental health expert from Burton and District Mind, which covers East Staffordshire, said the charity had noticed an increase in young people seeking help. She said: “There is certainly increased demand for mental health services for children and young people.
“We have noted an increase in inquiries from young people, parents and care-givers.
“Burton and District Mind now provide emotional support pathways for young people from 16 years of age and have also started to work with some local schools to help with mental health support.”
Burton and District Mind provides confidential support for people in East Staffordshire suffering from emotional problems.
In Staffordshire and Stoke the figure rose to 20,239 in 2017/18 from the 5,570 seen the previous year.
Liz Mellor, children’s commissioning or mental health development manager at Staffordshire County Council, told our sister paper the Stoke Sentinel the key approach to the problem was prevention.
She said: “Our arrangements locally are quite outdated. For a long time the services have had a bad reputation for access and waiting times and there is an argument the service that has been provided to children and young people is very clinical.
“We want to identify issues in young people as early as possible, therefore keeping them out of services such as CAMHS. Our focus is about prevention.”
Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the NHS have worked together on a document to address children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing leading up to 2023, which was presented to a Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee meeting.
The strategy read: “The mental health and wellbeing of all children and young people across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent is a priority for us all.
“Children and young people’s emotional wellbeing impacts on every part of their lives, their education, the relationships they have with their friends and family and the choices they make.
“Providing children and young people and their families with the right type of support for their mental health at the earliest possible opportunity can help to avoid many of the damaging social and health problems they may face later in life.”
For more information about the services offered by Burton and District Mind call 01283 566696 or email info@burtonmind.co.uk.