Mental Health

‘National scandal’ as some CCGs spending as low as £2 per child

Some CCGs are spending negligible amounts per person on children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) despite a surge in youth mental illness, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) has found.

The college has claimed that the small sums being spent by CCGs are “a national scandal” when NHS mental health services are currently being used by at least 234,000 young people – with the figure estimated to be much higher, because almost half of trusts haven’t yet disclosed how many under-18 patients they have.

Research undertaken by RCPsych into CCGs’ spending plans has found that Luton CCG is spending the least amount of money per under-18 in its area this year – just £2.01.

“It is a national scandal that opportunities to prevent mental illness from occurring in childhood are being missed because of unacceptably low investment,” said Prof Sir Simon Wessely, the president of the RCPsych.

“Our analysis shows that in many parts of the country, the proportion of money that NHS clinical commissioning groups are planning to spend on the mental health of our children and young people is negligible.”

Other CCGs spending small amounts on CAMHS include the three London boroughs of Enfield (£2.33), Tower Hamlets (£4.45) and Ealing (£6.39), as well as North Somerset (£5.89). Ten CCGs are spending less than £10 per head, while 25 will spend just £25 or less. In contrast, Birmingham South and Central CCG has allocated the most of any of England’s 209 CCGs to CAMHS – a total of £135.85 per child.

Exam stress, body image issues and the negative impact of social media are thought to be among the key factors behind the rise in psychological and psychiatric illness in children.  

Luciana Berger MP, president of the Labour campaign for mental health and former shadow mental health minister, called the sums spent by CCGs “disgracefully low” in the context of the sharp rise in need.

“This is yet further evidence of the gap between Jeremy Hunt’s continued promises for increased funding and the reality on the ground for our young people’s mental health services,” she said.

But NHS England’s national director for mental health, Claire Murdoch, argued that the NHS was putting more money into CAMHS services than ever before, with an additional £1.4bn invested nationally, and CCGs increasing their mental health spending by 8.4% last year. However, she acknowledged that there was “variation around the country” in how much was invested.

“Improving mental health for children and young people is an absolute priority for the NHS, and councils, third sector organisations, schools and social care all have a role to play in this,” Murdoch added.

“The additional £1.4bn invested last year is helping us to make progress on our ambition to treat 70,000 more children and young people each year by 2021.”

Earlier this week, the Independent Commission on Children and Young People’s Mental Health argued that the £250m a year promised by the government for CAMHS during this Parliament has not yet reached the frontline, with only £75m directly distributed to CCGs in the first year.

Another £119m was given to CCGs for this financial year but this was not specifically ring-fenced for CAMHS, leaving open the possibility that funding would be diverted to other priorities.

The NSPCC lamented the wide variation of sums put by CCGs into CAMHS, referring to the situation as a “postcode lottery”.

“It’s really concerning that some areas of the country will only spend a fraction on mental health services for children and young people compared to what others will spend elsewhere,” an NSPCC spokesperson said.

“It should go without saying that children and young people should be able to get proper support for mental health conditions regardless of where they live.”

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