Charity urges expansion of mental health support for young people

Barbara Rayment said many young people with mental health conditions are unable to access specialist support to tackle issues such as drug or alcohol problems, because it does not exist outside of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) provision.

She wants local commissioners and policymakers to take the lead and improve the availability of this support by integrating it into a comprehensive youth mental health service.

Her remarks came as the membership network for youth advisory services launched a series of briefing papers designed to support local authorities and NHS commissioners to develop appropriate and relevant support for young people.

The three papers highlight the importance of delivering youth-focused services that provide support for a range of inter-related issues, including mental health, substance misuse and sexual health.

Rayment said commissioners need to develop services that join up with statutory provision, ensuring young people are supported through the transition from childhood to adulthood.

She said: “Successive governments have identified the gaps and barriers in mental health services for young people.

“However, the focus has consistently been on trying to make the gap between statutory CAMHS and adult mental health services work better for the relatively small numbers in this system.

“Far less attention has been focused on those who, for whatever reason, are not accessing statutory services or on questioning why this might be the case.

“In Norman Lamb, we seem to have a minister who is really starting to listen to young people and hearing that they would prefer a different style of provision.

“It’s high time we started to offer something better – and essential that we build on the good practice and effective service models that are already out there.”