Covid: Mental health money for children’s services

Money to support children and young people’s mental health after the “disruption” of the pandemic has been cautiously welcomed.

It is part of a £500m pot for mental health services across the board, announced in November.

The government confirmed £79m would be allocated to support children in school and in the community.

Charities and campaigners said the pandemic had significantly impacted young people’s mental health.

NHS research suggests an estimated one in six young people may now have a mental health problem – up from one in nine in 2017.

Head of charity Mind, Paul Farmer said it was “positive” that the government has confirmed how much of the previously-announced £500m investment in mental health would be allocated to support children and young people.

“We know that high levels of poor mental health and problems accessing mental health services were a problem for many children and young people even before the pandemic, and that coronavirus has disproportionately affected younger people,” he said.

The charity originally asked government for a £1bn investment in mental health – twice was what pledged.

Saadia, an 18-year-old from Swansea, said the pandemic had been a “rollercoaster” for her.

“There’s a lot of time when I feel very tired. I miss my friends. I miss being in that learning environment. There have been a lot of highs and lows”.

Now in her first year of university, Saadia has been able to get support for her mental health when she was at school and college – though she’s mindful not all schools have such good support teams.

“I relied on [school support services] – more than on my friends and family – because when I was younger I didn’t feel able to open up.

“I was very fortunate to be in that place where the right services were around, but I’m aware not every school has that”.

So the announcement is “a big step forward”, she says, though she hopes young people will keep being involved and consulted at all stages of the process.

The £79m should pay for more mental health support teams in schools and therapy in the community including for eating disorders.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the money would be aimed at:

Community mental health care includes talking therapies, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) aimed at teaching people to change the way they think about and act on their problems.

President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr Adrian James, described the extra funding as a “welcome development”, but cautioned services needed to be set up quickly and action needed to be taken to make sure there were enough specialist staff to actually run them.

“Demand for mental health support for children and young people has significantly increased in the past year and services were struggling to meet demand even before Covid-19 hit,” he said.

“That’s why we also need to see more ambitious investment and fast implementation of existing commitments… as well as plans for the remaining £421 million for other mental health services promised last November.”

“The pandemic has turned our lives upside down and hit children and young people particularly hard,” NHS mental health director Claire Murdoch said.

She said NHS mental health services had been working “around the clock proactively reaching out to and caring for children and young people despite challenging circumstances”.

But children’s minister Vicky Ford said the additional funding would “enable even more children and young people to get the support they need quickly” .