The Centre for Mental Health charity and NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network have praised the work of the 70 hubs that already in operation for improving young people’s mental health, in their report into mental health investment priorities for the year.
This details how the hubs offer “easy-to-access drop-in support” for children and young people who may not meet the threshold for support despite struggling with their mental health.
They want to see the number of hubs more than doubled to 153, one for each upper tier local authority area.
This would ensure more children can access support and to meet government aims of moving support from hospitals to the community, says their report.
In addition, the charity recommends rolling out Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in all schools.
"Together, these will take us closer to a comprehensive system of support for children and young people’s mental health", especially in light of the "alarming increase” in children attending hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments with mental health needs.
It cites how during 2022, young people with a mental health crisis spent more than 900,000 hours in A&E.
The centre and membership body NHS Confederation say it would cost the government between £74m and £121m to expand the number of hubs to 153. The total annual running costs of this number of hubs would be between £169m to £210m, they estimate.
Their report also calls on the government to improve mental health support for new and expectant mothers.
This includes investing in mental health training for health visitors to better support new mothers and to increase the use of talking therapies.
Investment in early help is also cost effective, says their report, as it would reduce escalating costs of tackling mental ill health. This reached £300bn in 2022, including economic costs such as sickness absences, unemployment and high staff turnover.
“Targeted investment in proven interventions and priority areas will ensure that money is well spent with positive outcomes for people’s mental health and extensive economic benefits,” said Centre for Mental Health chief executive Andy Bell.
NHS Confederation mental health director Rebecca Gray said that the government’s forthcoming spending review is “a fantastic opportunity to invest in the shifting resources upstream to improve the nation’s mental health”.
“The investment areas we have set out with Centre for Mental Health are areas we know will not only improve care for people with mental ill health but also pay dividends economically and societally as well,” she added.
The previous Conservative government invested £5m in funding for 10 early support hubs in 2023 and provided an additional £3m to expand the number of hubs to 24 a year later.
