Responding to a report by the Children and Young People’s Mental
Health Coalition that mental health support services for children
and young people are unable to keep up with demand, Cllr
Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s
Children and Young People Board, said:
“The pandemic has exacerbated existing mental health issues among
children and young people, with the number of people referred to
mental health services soaring by 134 per cent between April and
June alone this year. But even before this, the number of
children referred to mental health services increased by nearly
60 per cent between 2017/18 and 2019/20.
“The Children’s Commissioner’s predicts that damage to children’s
health caused by COVID-19 could last for years without a
large-scale funding increase for children’s mental health
services. We echo these concerns.
“Mental health needs to be at the heart of a holistic approach to
overall health and wellbeing, including investment in
community-based services, such as youth services. Health and
wellbeing should be intrinsically linked to a child-led education
recovery plan.
“It is vital that effective and evidence-based mental health and
wellbeing services and statutory mental health services for
children are able to meet existing, new and unmet demand that has
built up during the pandemic to support children and young people
to thrive and overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
- More than 190,000 patients under the age of 18 were referred
to children and young people's mental health services between
April and June this year - up 134 per cent on the same period
last year, according to analysis of official figures by the
Royal College of
Psychiatrists.
