£2bn mental health fund boost for schools
EVERY state school will be given a dedicated mental health professional to help children deal with the impact of social media as part of £2billion-a-year funding boost.
Philip Hammond will announce plans in his Budget today to increase mental health funding from nearly £12 billion to more than £14 billion within five years. The announcement is the first stage of the NHS long-term plan to help achieve “parity of esteem” between mental and physical health services, the Treasury said.
The new mental health teams will be overseen by NHS professionals and help children with “mild and moderate mental health problems” including the effects of cyber bullying. Schools will also be encouraged to appoint a “designated mental health lead”, who would be a teacher.
The Daily Telegraph has been campaigning for social media companies to be subject to a statutory duty of care to provide stronger protection for children from online harm.
The focus on mental health support in schools come as Norman Lamb, the former health minister, said social media “intensifies” bullying and makes it something children “cannot escape” from.
As part of the funding, NHS will also provide more ambulances dedicated to helping people suffering a mental health crisis. They will look like normal cars, instead of traditional ambulances, in an effort to reduce the stigma associated with hospitalisation for mental ill health. The ambulances will be staffed by crews with a combination of physical and mental health training.
More money will be spent on “crisis cafes”, drop-in mental health community centres which allow people to access support without going to A&E.
Comprehensive mental health support will also be available in every large A&E department, and anyone experiencing a mental health crisis will be able to receive support when they call 111.
Schools will receive a large proportion of the funding. The dedicated mental health teams will have workers trained in children’s mental health through a new university course. The impact of social media on young people will be one of their focuses, a spokesman for the Treasury said.
Mr Lamb, the chairman of the science and technology committee, which is conducting an inquiry on the effects of social media, said: “More support in schools is absolutely necessary. There has been an extraordinary rise in the number of teenagers self harming, and a prevalence of mental ill health and distress in teenage years.
“There are significant concerns about those teenagers who are using the internet, and issues with cyber bullying and sexting. Bullying exists in schools but it is intensified and made much more immediate if it is 24/7 and you cannot escape from it.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the total £2billion funding figure was calculated by taking Theresa May’s pledge to give £20billion a year to the NHS and applying the existing proportion that mental health takes up in the NHS’ overall budget.
However, critics said more money is needed. Mr Lamb said he is “concerned” that the funding does not increase the proportion the NHS spends on mental health. “It is not enough,” he said.