21.08.14
Government taskforce to address children’s mental health ‘crisis’
A new taskforce has been launched to improve children’s mental health, which care minister Norman Lamb has admitted is “in crisis”.
He is bringing together experts to publish a new report next spring, ahead of the general election.
He has told reporters that he is “determined to modernise the provision of psychiatric help for children”.
Charities and local councils have warned of a “national crisis” in young people’s mental health, which they say has faced disproportionate funding cuts from local commissioners.
According to the Independent, in some areas funding for children’s mental health services has reduced by as much as 94%.
One in ten children and young people aged 5 to 16 suffers from a mental health condition, but just 0.6% of NHS funding is spent on services.
The Centre for Mental Health’s chief executive Sean Duggan said: “The government’s ‘taskforce’ into children and young people’s mental health must focus on how to bring about a significant shift in resources to invest in early intervention and address shockingly high levels of unmet need.”
Children undergoing treatment for mental health problems can be moved to hospitals far from home due to the lack of available beds in a hospital close to their families. This leads to stress for the patient and their family, and could jeopardise their ongoing care.
Duggan said: “The Centre welcomes the creation of a taskforce but it is vital that it addresses the key issues we face in meeting the mental health needs of children and young people. There is already a wealth of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence about what interventions work for children and young people with emotional and behavioural problems.”
Lamb told the Independent that children’s mental health services in England are “dysfunctional” and “crying out” for a complete overhaul.
He said: “There is an institutional bias against mental health. Partly it’s because the media doesn’t concentrate on it. There needs to be the same focus on mental health as there is on cancer services, stroke services, knee replacements and so on.”
Duggan agreed, saying: “Three-quarters of children with mental health problems receive no specialist support at all. This needs to be addressed urgently by the Department of Health, NHS England, local authorities, schools and every clinical commissioning group in England.
“We need to act now to start closing the treatment gap for children and young people. The taskforce needs to examine what changed can be made to the way health services are funded and commissioned to ensure that children with mental health problems are no longer made to wait unacceptably long times for treatment. IT needs to focus on what schools, GPs and other public services that come into contact with families can do to identify risks and needs quickly. And it needs to build on the evidence of how to create services that are effective, engaging and credible in the eyes of young people to help them to improve their health and wellbeing.”
The new taskforce will reform services for when patients move from under-18 care to adult services, known as the ‘cliff edge’, as well as recommending ways to improve mental health commissioning for young people in the UK.
Duggan said: “No child should be left to suffer with depression, anxiety of behavioural problems when there are effective (and very cost-effective) interventions available to help them. It is time to take concerted action to put this right in every community for every child who needs help for their mental health.”
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