Children’s Commissioner warns of 'chasm' in child mental health services
3 min read
The Children's Commissioner for England has warned that it could take up to a decade to fix the "chasm" in child mental health services.
Anne Longfield warned that "society will reap the cost" unless the Government ploughs more money into the system.
Her third annual report revealed that on average, just £92 was spent per child compared to £225 per adult on mental health treatment.
She said: "NHS services are expanding and further advances are promised. NHS England is on track to meet current targets. Yet there is much more work to do: there remains a chasm between what children need and what is being provided.
"Moreover, children – who make up 20% of the population – account for just 10% of mental health spending. I estimate we are at least a decade away from a comprehensive mental health service for children."
Children’s mental health provisions are subject to a “postcode lottery”, the report claimed, with average waiting times for treatment ranging from three weeks to four months in different parts of the country.
Spending also varies drastically across England, with some NHS trust spending as little as £14 per child, while others spent up to £191.
"The Government urgently needs to commit to providing help to all children who need it," Ms Longfield said. "If not, far too many children with mental health problems will suffer as children, and then become adults without getting the help they need. And society will still be reaping the cost."
'BREAKING POINT'
Labour’s Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Social Care Barbara Keeley said the analysis showed child mental health services are “stretched to breaking point”.
She added: “The government has set itself up for five more years of failure on children’s mental health.
“Its NHS Funding Bill contains no plans to ring fence mental health budgets and no plans to increase funding for children’s mental health services.
Meanwhile Richard Crellin, Policy Manager at The Children’s Society, said that while there had been some improvement in mental health provisions, the progress “is still not good enough”.
He said: “Much of the new funding for NHS children’s mental health is going to more of the same type of services that are often overly clinical, and children and young people find them intimidating and hard to engage with.”
As part of her report, Ms Longfield has called on the Government to “commit to delivering the services its own modelling showed were needed”.
She also made a number of recommendations including creating a clearer definition of who requires specialist services, fast tracking funding to ensure rapid growth and to work more closely with local authorities on mental health services.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment
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