NHS employers body NHS Providers is calling on the government to act amid concerns around long waiting times children are facing to meet their mental and physical health needs.
It warns that demand for mental health services among children has more than doubled since the pandemic, with 562,840 young people waiting for services in March this year.
In addition, the number of children and young people waiting for community health support is 314,430, a record number. Of these more than one in five have been waiting for more than a year for help.
It has released a report, detailing the work of trusts in areas including Liverpool and London to improve access to support, which warns that “trust leaders remain increasingly concerned by the extraordinary level of demand for children and young people’s services and the length of time some are being forced to wait for treatment”.
It adds: “This has detrimental impacts for both their physical and mental health, as well as their wider social and educational development.
“Long waiting times for services not only impact children and young people in the here and now but will also have a significant impact on their future outcomes and life chances.”
“Many long-term health conditions have their origins during childhood and so it is vital that interventions are carried out during this critical period.”
Work by Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust on coproducing services with young people through the Humber Youth Action Group, is among examples given in the NHS Providers’ report.
The use of digital interventions to help children by Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust and the setting up of neighbourhood support teams for children by London North West University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are others.
“For too long, children and young people have not been prioritised at a national level, with devastating long-term effects for individuals and their families, as well as to the NHS and the economy, said NHS Providers chair Terence Stephenson.
He added: “We are calling on the government to prioritise children and young people in all national policy making, and particularly the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan and Comprehensive Spending Review.”
