OnMedica – News – Children's Mental Health Support

Third of local areas reducing spending in real terms

A new report on support for children's mental health reveals large variations in funding and reveals that one-third of local authorities have cut spending in real terms.

In her reportAnne Longfield, Children's Commissioner of England, examined the amount spent on basic child mental health care in England.

The Children's Commissioner's research is the first time an organization has been collecting data on the amount of spending on mental health in parts of England. It reveals that local areas, which included both local and NHS spending, allocated a total of £ 226 million to basic mental health services in 2018/2019, a little over 14 books per child.

However, the report shows that there are large variations in the amount of funding available: the 25% of the richest regions spent at least £ 1.1 million or more, while the remaining 25% spent 180 £ 000 or less.

In 2018/2019, spending per child was higher in London and the northeast, but lower in the East Midlands, in East England and in the Southeast. In London, local authority spending per child for low-level mental health services was £ 17.88 per child, compared with £ 5.32 per child in the east of the country. ;England.

This postal code lottery comes at a time when the government has released more funds for children's mental health at the national level, while the number of children in need of support and treatment for children's mental health services has increased. increased over the last decade.

While total reported spending on low-level mental health services in all regions of England increased by 22% between 2016/17 and 2018/19 in terms of cash and 17% in real terms, more in one third of the country's regions, spending has declined in real terms – nearly 60% of local governments have seen their terms fall.

Anne Longfield commented, "This report reveals for the first time the postal lottery that faces a growing number of children suffering from low-level mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. extremely worrying that one-third of the inhabitants of England are reducing their expenditures in real terms for these essential services.

"The children I talk to who are suffering from anxiety and depression do not require intensive hospital treatment, they just want to be able to talk to a counselor about their concerns and get advice on how to do it. stop their problems turning into a crisis.

"The NHS 10-year plan has made children's mental health a top priority, but it will not succeed until children with serious mental health problems receive early and rapid help. Local authorities are under enormous financial pressure and many are doing a good job, but those who spend practically nothing on low-level mental health can not continue to let children struggle alone. "

Responding to today's findings, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs told OnMedica: "Investing in the mental health of our children is a priority for this government and we are transforming the lives of our children. services through the NHS Long Term Plan, with an additional £ 2.3 billion per year – so that an additional 70,000 children per year will have access to specialized mental health care by 2020-2021.

"Early intervention is vital and we go further by testing a four-week waiting time standard, training a whole new mental health staff in schools across the country, and teaching students what to do." looks like a good physical and mental health. "

* Early Access to Mental Health Support: Technical Report. Report prepared by the Children's Commissioner of England, April 2019.