The Government must commit to eliminating the need for mental health hospitals for children by 2030, a charity has said.
In a new report, Rethink Mental Illness said every child whose mental health deteriorates to the point of requiring a hospital stay represents a “failure of the state”.
While access to mental health services has risen, “the health system continues to struggle to keep pace with demand, leaving many young people without support”, it added.
“Overwhelmed systems have led to a treatment gap in children’s mental health services, with almost half of children and young people’s mental health needs remaining unmet.”
The report highlighted that over the last decade there has been a “concerning rise” in the number of young people suffering with mental health disorders in England.
Data from NHS England shows that one in five children and young people aged eight to 25 have a probable mental health disorder.
Figures also show that children under the age of 13 typically wait the longest for treatment, while boys tend to wait longer on average for their second session of support than girls.
Rethink’s analysis showed that, at the end of September, there were 915 children receiving treatment for their mental health on an inpatient ward in England.
It said it had identified three groups of children who are falling through the gaps between services.
A child needing to receive treatment in a mental health hospital is not an unavoidable fact of life; it is the consequence of political decisions which mean we have failed to adequately support that child early enough
These are the children and young people stuck on long waiting lists for support from Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); the “missing middle” who do not meet the threshold for CAMHS but whose needs are too complex for school-based support or early access hubs; and young people who disengage as they move from child to adult services.
The Children’s Commissioner estimates there were 373,000 referrals rejected by CAMHS in 2022/2023 and Rethink said this group of children could be the “missing middle”.
The report said the typical (median) wait time for a child who has had a first contact from CAMHS is two weeks.
But this “masks the extreme delays” experienced by children who are still waiting to receive their first contact from CAMHS.
They typically wait six months, with some waiting up to two years, the study said.
No child should have to be separated from their family, friends and schools and forced to spend weeks, months or years in a mental health hospital where they miss out on crucial milestones
Brian Dow, deputy chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “A child needing to receive treatment in a mental health hospital is not an unavoidable fact of life; it is the consequence of political decisions which mean we have failed to adequately support that child early enough.
“This lack of prevention and early intervention is causing the poor mental health of children to deepen into severe mental illness, which can be incredibly difficult to resolve and often persists well into adulthood.
“No child should have to be separated from their family, friends and schools and forced to spend weeks, months or years in a mental health hospital where they miss out on crucial milestones.
“Until our leaders set a bold target to eradicate the need for mental health hospitals for children, supporting mental health early will not be a priority and inpatient care will continue to be the only solution, albeit an unsafe and ineffective one.”
A Government spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not getting the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that.
“This Government will ensure there is access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England and a Young Futures Hub in every community.
“We will also recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.”
