'Decent children's mental health services a decade away'

Anne Longfield’s report, The state of children’s mental health services, found that while children make up a fifth of the population they account for just a tenth of total mental health spending.

The report acknowledges that services are improving. An extra £60m investment last year has meant an additional 53,000 children have entered treatment. The number of children with an eating disorder needing help has increased by 50 per cent since 2016/17.

But Longfield warns that many children are still missing out and “we are still a decade from a decent mental health service for children”.

Last year only around three per cent of children were referred to services last year, which is one in four of children with a diagnosable mental health condition in need of support.

There are around “760,000 children with a significant mental health need but not accessing treatment,” states Longfield’s report.

Within four to five years the figure is estimated to have dropped below half a million, the report adds.

But the commissioner warns there are many more children showing symptoms of a mental health disorder that are not currently considered severe enough for treatment.

“Even if specialist mental health services expand to where they think they would need to be by 2028, this still leaves about 1.2m children who would benefit from some form of mental health support,” states the report.

“We don’t know how many of these children are getting some support.”

The report says the average spend per child is £92, compared with £225 for every adult.

“Children’s mental health remains the poor relation of NHS services,” states the report.

It adds that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) spent around £750m on children’s mental health last year, out of a total budget of £76bn. On average, CCGs spent 0.92 per cent of their budget on children’s mental health compared with 0.87 per cent the previous year.

Longfield said: “There has been welcome progress on children’s mental health services over the last couple of years, and more progress is promised over the next few years. Nevertheless, there is still a chasm between what children need and what is being provided.

“More children are seeking help for their mental health and the government need to make sure that help is available.”

While there has been some progress, there remains a chasm between the high numbers of children needing support & the postcode lottery of help & services around the country. Govt urgently needs to commit the funds to providing help for 100% of children. https://t.co/ISTXCUiMpe

— Anne Longfield (@annelongfield) January 30, 2020

Local variation in mental health support for children is another issue raised in her report.

She highlights four areas; Southwark, Croydon, Corby and Lambeth, where nine out of 10 children referred can access treatment.

But there are 10 areas where more than half of children referred for help do not enter treatment. This includes Knowsley where almost two thirds (64 per cent) of referred children have their referral closed before treatment.

The Children’s Society’s policy manager Richard Crellin urged the government to invest more on “open-access services” rather than the current focus on services that are “overly clinical and children and young people find them intimidating and hard to engage with”.

“Being able to drop in for support without an appointment could be life-changing for children who currently aren’t able to access services for their mental and emotional health,” he said.     

Young Minds campaign director Tom Madders added: “This concerning research reflects what we hear every day from young people and worried parents – that, in many areas, it remains far too difficult to get mental health support.

“Long waiting times and high thresholds for treatment can have a devastating impact – in some cases, young people start to self-harm, drop out of school or become suicidal before they get the help they need.”

Earlier this month the Education Policy Institute revealed that a quarter of children referred to mental health services are being denied help.