CYP Now - Policy & Practice: Policy into practice - Mental Health Bill undermines good work

Keeping children safe from harm and ensuring their health is every parent's and carer's priority. With Government initiatives to promote healthy eating and regular exercise, there has never been more of a focus on children's health. But as the decline in children's physical health is coupled with a decline in their mental health, this focus must remain broad, with a clear framework for identifying and treating all young people in a multi-disciplinary approach.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 10 per cent of young people from five to 15 years old are currently suffering from a diagnosable mental disorder. This equates to 1.1 million young people, with 40 per cent not receiving any specialist service to support them. Statistics such as these become alarming when you consider those children below five and young people over 15 who are not accounted for.

A mental disorder can be anything from depression or an eating disorder to a more serious psychosis. The causes of mental health disorders in children are complex and wide ranging. This is where the Government sees the child and adolescent mental health service as bringing together all the agencies involved in a child's life to treat and support the social as well as the physical manifestations of mental disorder. This means the service must work with, and commission, local primary care trusts and social services so that every young person gets the care they need.

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