UK Children’s Mental Health Services in Bad State: Report

The Health Select Committee of the UK has come up with a report that shows the poor state of children’s mental health services in the country.

The report revealed how “in many areas early intervention services are being cut or are suffering from insecure or short term funding”.

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According to the report this problem is a lead cause of the trend where many young people are developing more serious mental health issues, thus queuing up for specialist NHS care.

Thus the panel urged the Government to “increase spending levels” until services meet “an acceptable standard”.

The report pointed out how, in some parts of the country, cash-strapped local bodies and NHS groups were not providing care to all. As a result, some young people who needed the help urgently were kept away from the services. There is also a dearth of doctors and nurses in this sector.

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Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said, “The pressure on services and lack of resources is compromising patient safety and it’s unacceptable that some children aren’t able to receive the care they need.”

Care Minister Norman Lamb “strongly welcomed” the report. He said, “I am determined to make sure young people get the mental health care they need.”

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The report also highlighted how graphic online content was responsible for increase in mental health problems among young people, including stress and anxiety.

The committee said the mental health services were “operating in a fog” because the mandatory research into the state of children's and adolescents' mental health in England was 10 years old.

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Due to acute lack of beds in mental health hospitals, often children were taken to facilities far away from home. In 2012/13, there were 263 cases of children kept in police cells, often because beds were not available in hospitals.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health estimates that one out of 10 children suffered from diagnosable mental health disorder.

Source-Medindia