The Health and Social Care Committee calls for urgent action to prevent mental health services slipping backwards as a result of additional demand created by the pandemic and the scale of unmet need prior to it.
- Read the full report: Children and young people’s mental health [HTML]
- Read the full feport: Children and young people’s mental health [PDF 890KB]
- Read the Expert Panel Report: Evaluation of the Government’s progress against its policy commitments in the area of mental health services in England [HTML]
- Find all publications related to this inquiry, including oral and written evidence
MPs found that despite progress in numbers of young people receiving treatment, it was unacceptable that more than half with a diagnosable condition pre-pandemic do not receive the mental health support they need.
The Report notes that half of mental health conditions become established before
the age of 14, while data from NHS Digital showed that in 2020 potentially one in six young people had a diagnosable mental health disorder up from one in nine three years earlier, placing a huge additional strain on already stretched children and young people's mental health services.New Mental Health Support Teams in schools offered a valuable opportunity to identify those beginning to experience problems with their mental health. However MPs note there was no funding to roll them out nationally in the recent Spending Review settlement and that current plans lack ambition.
The Report also found that too many children and young people were placed in inpatient units far from home, without adequate understanding of their rights, and subject to restrictive interventions.
Health and Social Care Committee Chair Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt said:
“Partly because of the pandemic, we are seeing demand for mental health treatment pushing NHS services to breaking point. Whilst we recognise that capacity to provide such services is increasing, we are not convinced it is happening at a fast enough rate.
“There is a growing risk that elective and emergency care pressures will mean mental health services once again become the poor relation.
“Our report uncovers good progress in schools provision but a continuing failure to find community care for too many young people who end up in inappropriate secure provision that makes their illness even worse."
Further information
Image: Pexels
No comments:
Post a Comment