In 1971 as an 11 year old I struggled with my mental health and depression. I got support and treatment and within 18 months I was fine. A decade ago I chaired the rewriting of the CAMHS National occupational standards across the 4 UK nations. The lack of staffing and provision was shocking. As CEO of an organisation providing specialist support for young people around drug and alcohol use 5 years ago, we found much of our time was seeing those with mental health issues not drugs and alcohol. As CEO of Parentkind I regularly conducted surveys of thousands of parents and saw increasing concerns about children’s mental health and the lack of support in recent years. This included a significant number of parents concerned about the mental health of primary school children. In terms of what parents want from schools support for mental health was in their top three asks. Parents told use that young people identified as having SEND issues within schools can wait years for assessment We heard one case of a young person recently admitted to a psychiatric inpatient ward and then released back onto a CAMHS waiting list they had been on for over a year. Failure to address the mental health and well-being of young people will continue to ruin the lives of young people far into adulthood. It is shocking that services certainly from my experience were better in 1971 than they are today. We have many dedicated and brilliant staff working in children’s mental health services but for decades the lack of investment has meant they have been unable to meet demand. With fewer young people in the UK we need as a society to nurture them as our future, we are failing for too many.
We don’t say this lightly. The number of young people struggling with their mental health is at an all-time high. Yesterday the Government had another opportunity to announce plans for the future in the Autumn budget, but there was no mention of improving mental health support for young people. It’s unacceptable. Young people make up around 18% of demand on NHS mental health services, but receive just 8% of the budget. This isn’t sustainable. The current system simply cannot cope with the huge pressure to keep up with demand. Waiting times will get longer. More young people will likely end up in crisis. Staff already working above and beyond their call of duty will be stretched even more thinly. We can’t call this a crisis anymore. This is a mental health emergency. And the Government need to take radical action. Every young person should be able to get the support they need, when they need it, no matter what. We won’t give up on making this happen. #AutumnBudget #JeremyHunt #MentalHealthEmergency
