Significant progress has been made to Children and Young People's Mental Health Services, but a chasm remains between the current levels of NHS services and what children need, the children's commissioner for England has warned.
While the NHS has made tangible progress in the provision of mental health services for children, the current system is still far away from adequately meeting the needs of all of the estimated 12.8% of children in England with mental health problems – or the many more children who fall just below the threshold for clinical diagnosis.
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said: “There has been welcome progress on children’s mental health services over the last couple of years, and more progress is promised over the next few years. Nevertheless, there is still a chasm between what children need and what is being provided. More children are seeking help for their mental health and the government need to make sure that help is available. We are still a decade away from a decent mental health service for all children."
Overall, the report shows services are improving, with an extra £60m invested in specialist children’s mental health services and an additional 53,000 children entering treatment. In particular, there has been a significant improvement in eating disorder services, where the number of children accessing services has increased by almost 50% since 2016/17. However, services are still far from where they need to be. Just over 3% of children were referred to services last year, only about 1 in 4 of children with a diagnosable mental health condition.
The research shows:
- On average children are waiting just under 8 weeks (53 days, down from 57 days a year ago) to enter treatment.
- Treatment varies hugely across the country. There are four CCGs where more than 90% of children referred entered treatment. But there are also 10 CCGs where more than half of children referred to CYPMHS don’t go on to enter treatment.
- Children account for 20% of the population, but only 10% of total mental health spending. On average, the NHS spends £225 for every adult and £92 for every child.
- Out of 195 CCGs in England, 161 increased spending on CYPMHS (per child) in 2018/19.
The Children’s Commissioner has sent formal statutory notices to a number of areas which national data indicates are lagging behind other areas of the country.
Anne Longfield said: "It is still not clear whether national and local government and the NHS is facing up to the scale of problems in children’s mental health services and the devastating impact this has on children. The government doesn’t have a plan for a comprehensive service in every area and there is still no commitment to a counsellor in every school, which would make a huge difference.
“After years of government announcements on children’s mental health, children’s mental health remains the poor relation of NHS spending, receiving a fraction of the money invested in adults. Most areas are still spending less than 1% of their budget on children’s mental health services, and the postcode lottery of care means some areas are years ahead of others in improving services.
“It is important to recognise and welcome the real progress that is being made. More children are receiving the help they need and even more will in the future. But the government urgently needs to commit in the next Spending Review to providing help for 100% of children, not just 20%. If not, thousands of children with mental health problems will continue to suffer and become adults without getting the help they need," she concluded.
The state of children’s mental health services
