Third of children's mental health workers report cuts or closures

A survey of more than 3,000 NHS counsellors, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts found that 33 per cent are reporting downsizing or say they fear their service will be forced to close.

Meanwhile, more than two thirds (67 per cent) said waiting times have got longer over the last five years and more than three quarters (76 per cent) said the current number of children's mental health posts are "inadequate" to meet the needs of children requiring support. 

In addition, 84 per cent said children now need to have more severe levels of mental illness to receive support.

Four professional organisations worked together to compile the survey - the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). The ACP is calling for more funding for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to improve access and shorten waiting times.

"These results are extremely concerning," ACP chair Heather Stewart said.  

"It is important not to lose sight of the really good work that most CAMHS clinicians are doing to help children and young people with a number of complex mental health needs at a time when resources are being cut.

"We need to ensure that these services are well supported in order to provide the best treatment in a timely manner."

Martin Pollecoff, chair of the UKCP, said: "Children's mental health services in the NHS are in crisis. Left untreated, childhood mental health issues can last a lifetime. Without a cash injection now, the impact on the nation's mental health could be felt for decades to come."

BACP chair Andrew Reeves called for extra funding to deploy counsellors into schools to offer early support for young people.

"School-based counselling can provide an early intervention to stop conditions accelerating into something more serious and complex, and is quicker and easier for children to access, usually in just two to three weeks. Plus it can also work as a parallel support alongside CAMHS," he said.

An extra £1.4bn has been allocated by the government for CAMHS until 2020 but last December research by Young Minds revealed that some clinical commissioning groups have "siphoned off" this additional cash to backfill cuts and fund other services. 

Earlier this month the charity called on all major political parties to commit to extra funding for CAMHS. It wants to see a further £250m to £300m a year spent on mental health services for children and young people between 2020 and 2023.