Mental health crisis drives children to A&E
Eating disorders and thoughts of suicide rise as lockdowns and remote learning take their toll
THE number of children who go to A&E with serious mental health issues has risen by more than 50 per cent since the pandemic began, after school closures pushed youngsters to crisis point, a Daily Telegraph investigation reveals.
More than 2,243 children in England were referred for specialist mental health care from emergency departments in May this year, compared with 1,428 for the same month in 2019.
Experts say children have struggled with schools closed and without faceto-face interaction with their peers.
Robert Halfon, Conservative MP and chair of the education select committee, called for schools to remain open to stave off a mental health “catastrophe”.
NHS data reveal that nearly 27,000 children are being prescribed antidepressants, up more than 8 per cent from 2019. While most are teenagers, 25 a month are aged six or under and more than 1,000 are aged seven to 11.
Waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have jumped by more than a third in some regions, says NHS England Trusts.
The number admitted to acute wards with eating disorders more than doubled in the three months to June 2021, compared to the same period in 2019.
Lila Veasey was a perfectly happy child before the pandemic but over the course of last year the combined pressure of remote learning and isolation from her peers made the 13-year-old increasingly stressed.
Shortly after Christmas, as the third national lockdown loomed, Lila’s mother, Emma Shepherd, noticed that alongside violent mood swings she was rapidly losing weight. By Easter Monday, she had not eaten anything for days.
Mrs Shepherd, 33, was so afraid for her daughter’s health that she felt she had to go to A&E at Sheffield Children’s Hospital and beg staff to admit her. There she was diagnosed with anorexia, anxiety and depression.
Lila was referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for specialist care, but with no beds available she remained at Sheffield Children’s Hospital until this month.
During that time, Lila deteriorated, refusing water so that she had to be fed by a tube. She self-harmed and made daily attempts to abscond.
Sheffield NHS Children’s Trust says it has specialist mental health staff available to help children who present in A&E, and that it puts “appropriate support” in place for patients after carrying out an assessment of risks – including that of running away.
Nonetheless, in July, Mrs Shepherd received a call from a nurse to say Lila had escaped. She was eventually found three miles away, barefoot and frightened. Mrs Shepherd feared Lila was so dehydrated she would collapse.
Looking back, she is also clear that Lila’s mental health problems were exacerbated by her difficulties in accessing specialist care. “If they had got her a bed in a specialist hospital in April, she wouldn’t be in this position,” she says.
Sadly, Lila’s situation is far from uncommon. NHS chiefs have warned of a mental health pandemic among children, which they predict will unfold over years rather than months as the effect of successive lockdowns takes its toll.
The numbers of children selfharming and becoming preoccupied with thoughts of suicide have risen sharply, according to research by mental health charity Place2be. NHS officials have warned of children as young as five having panic attacks about play dates. Cases of children being admitted to hospital with acute eating disorders have more than doubled.
While there was a sharp drop-off in referrals to CAMHS from A&E during the first lockdown, they started rising last autumn, according to data from 55 out of 127 NHS trusts in England.
In some cases, youngsters who had been diagnosed with mental health disorders before the pandemic have relapsed or got worse. In others, like
Lila’s, children who have never previously displayed any major mental health problems are now in need of urgent treatment.
Meanwhile, waiting lists for some CAMHS treatments have started to grow across most of England.
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that waiting lists for treatment for conditions including anxiety and depression have jumped in almost every part of
England. In the South West and South East they are up by over a third.
Less than a third of youngsters who require mental health treatment are being seen, according to analysis by Mind, the mental health charity. NHS England said it treated 420,000 children and young people last year, and has laid out plans to increase that capacity by 345,000.
“While there is more to do given the effect of the pandemic on young people, the NHS has already put mental health crisis lines in place, more support in schools, so that help is available at an earlier stage,” a spokesman said.
Last night, Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee, called for all children who did not attend school during lockdown to have their mental health assessed, and for the Government to fund specialist mental health staff in every school.
However, for those stuck on CAMHS waiting lists, long delays can have a substantial impact on their health and on that of other family members.
In Oxfordshire, the family of eight-year-old Logan Jenkin have been told he will have to wait two to three years for a CAMHS assessment, and “possibly more now because of Covid”.
He is due to be assessed for ADHD and autism after he became “very violent” during the first lockdown.
“He’s usually the kindest little boy. Out of all my kids, if he sees that I’m looking a bit sad, he’s the one who comes and gives me a hug,” says his mother, Nicola Jenkin.
In desperation, Mrs Jenkin was forced to call the police three times, “because I couldn’t control him”.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust said that while waiting for a neurodevelopmental assessment, children and their families “have access to a duty clinician, and there is support available via our website and mental health helpline”.
“Children’s mental health is the next pandemic,” says Mrs Jenkin. “I am 100 per cent sure it is.”