MP attacks low mental health funding for kids
SPENDING on children’s mental health services in Kirklees and Calderdale is among the lowest per head in the country.
NHS organisations covering Huddersfield, North Kirklees and Calderdale are ranked in the bottom 17% for spending per capita on children and adolescent mental health services last year.
According to figures obtained by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Greater Huddersfield CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) spent just £27.92 per child.
North Kirklees CCG spent £28.22 while Calderdale CCG fared worst of the three, spending £25.89.
The most ‘generous’ local NHS authority was Birmingham South and Central which spent £135.85 per child.
Meanwhile the ‘Scrooge’ of children’s mental health spending was Luton CCG which spent a paltry £2.01 per head.
Dewsbury Labour MP Paula Sherriff has written to Greater Huddersfield CCG chief officer Carol McKenna demanding extra investment in children and adolescent mental health services.
Ms Sherriff, a former NHS manager, wrote: “The demand for mental health services – in the Greater Huddersfield area and elsewhere – has never been greater.
“What steps will you take both to review your planned spending commitments in this area and to ensure that extra investment is passed onto this vital frontline service?”
Mirfield-based children’s mental health campaigner Martin Kilgallon said: “The Government has been imposing cuts across the whole country, yet the people in charge of Kirklees CCGs appear to be happy to lie back and let it happen.”
A spokesperson for Greater Huddersfield and North Kirklees CCGs said they had increased spending on children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), particularly in areas requiring extra investment.
The spokesperson said: “Commissioning and provider organisations in Kirklees have acknowledged the need to make significant and long-lasting changes to the way services across the area are commissioned and delivered in order to address a range of issues and meet national guidelines.
“Over the past year we have increased our investment in services for children and young adults, including providing additional funding for autism spectrum condition assessments, crisis intervention and staffing. Our investment in core services is around £3.2m across Kirklees. This excludes a further sum which was allocated for a new regional eating disorder provision.
“We currently spend around £33 per head of the child population on core CAMHS services (excluding eating disorders) and while this is beneath the national benchmark figure of £35 we are making significant efforts to address this.”