Ministers were accused on Wednesday of “levelling down” desperately-needed mental health services for children in London.
They came under fire after admitting to plans to move 23 doctor training posts in child and adolescent psychiatry from the capital to other parts of the country by 2030/31.
Twickenham MP Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for children & young people, said: “Children’s mental health services in London are already in crisis, yet this rash move will make waiting lists even worse in the next decade.
“If ministers were serious about tackling the tidal wave in children’s mental ill health, they would increase training places across the country.”
Health minister Maria Caulfield said that out of 220 NHS-funded specialty training posts for child and adolescent psychiatry for England in 2023/24, 68 (or 31 per cent) were based in London, with a further 22 posts funded by local trusts, ten of which were in the capital, making a total of 78 in the city.
She stressed: “London, therefore, holds over a third of the total trainee posts. When mapped against the total population, and accounting for specialised commissioning, this is highly disproportionate.”
She added that 43 more training posts have been or are planned to be commissioned between 2022 and 2025, six of which are in London.
A Health Department spokesman said: “We recognise there is a clear need to fund more trainees in child and adolescent psychiatry in England.”
Two years ago, then Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was accused of “recklessly levelling down London” by scrapping the “London Weighting” of the university teaching grant, worth tens of millions of pounds, a claim he rejected.
