The government’s investment in children’s mental health services has come under fire after it emerged that more than a quarter of young people referred for support in England last year were sent away without help, including some who had attempted suicide.
A review of mental health services by the children’s commissioner discovered 13% of youngsters with life-threatening conditions were not allowed specialist treatment, according to the BBC. Even those with the most serious illnesses who secured treatment faced lengthy delays, with an average waiting time of 110 days, the Times said.
Anne Longfield accused Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), the NHS body responsible for young people’s mental health services, of “playing Russian roulette” with young lives.
Natasha Devon, whose post as mental health champion for schools was axed this month, said she had been let go because she warned that austerity was causing mental health issues for young people.
“The reason I was let go from the post is I was listening to what young people were telling me about the reasons for their anxiety,” she said. “Most of the time they were the result of austerity. It was things like poverty, and it was also the prospect of being unemployed, student debt, academic and exam pressure.
“And these are all policies that have been implemented by this government and the coalition before them. So, to a degree, they are causing some of the issues, and that was the unpopular opinion that I put out there,” Devon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Average waiting times ranged from 14 days at a trust in north-west England to 200 days at one in the West Midlands, while around 35% of trusts said they would restrict access to services for children who missed appointments, the review found.
Around 248,000 children were referred for specialist mental health treatment last year but 28% were refused, mostly on the grounds that their illness was not yet serious enough to merit specialist help, the Times reported.
Longfield said: “If a young person with a life-threatening mental health condition has to wait six months to see a specialist, we are playing Russian roulette with their lives. In many parts of the country young people’s mental health support seems to be rationed.
“I’ve heard from far too many children who have been denied support or struck off the list because they missed appointments. I’ve heard from others whose GPs could not manage their condition and who had to wait months to see a specialist whilst struggling with their conditions.”
The commissioner obtained data from 48 of England’s 60 child and adolescent mental health service trusts, according to the BBC.
James Morris, a Tory MP who chairs the all-party group on mental health, called for an overhaul of services. He told Today: “I think that child and adolescent mental health services … there have been problems building up in the system for many years under governments of both political persuasions.
“So, yes, I think we need to have a fundamental transformation of adolescent mental health services.”
A government spokesman said: “No one should have to wait too long for mental health care, or be sent away in need. That is why we have introduced the first ever mental health access and waiting time standards and are putting a record £1.4bn into support for young people in every area of the country.
“This investment is just beginning, and is creating new joined-up plans to improve care in the community and schools to make sure young people get support before they reach a crisis point.”