Teachers are having to “paper over the cracks” left by failings in mental health services for students, school leaders have warned after the publication of a scathing report by the children’s commissioner today.
Dame Rachel de Souza’s report paints a picture of rising demand for mental health services and a postcode lottery over access to treatment, and calls for mental health support teams to be in place in every school in the country within the next two years.
The report also calls for schools to play a greater role in local NHS and social care integration partnerships.
The report reveals that almost three-quarters of children detained under the Mental Health Act are girls, and that young people in need of mental health services in England face an increasingly fragmented picture of referrals and treatment.
Of the 869 children detained under the Mental Health Act in 2021-22, 71 per cent were girls, according to the report. There was a drop in the overall number of children being detained, or sectioned, and being admitted to inpatient mental health wards.
The new analysis, published today to coincide with International Women’s Day, follows the children’s commissioner’s The Big Ask survey, published in 2021, in which 40 per cent of 16- and 17-year-old girls said they were unhappy with their mental health.
Mental health: Schools ‘need specialist support’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said the report’s “worrying findings” chime with the experiences of school leaders, who have seen the damaging impact of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis on young people’s wellbeing and mental health.
“School leaders and their staff work tirelessly to identify mental health needs and support children’s wellbeing, but they are not mental health specialists, and they need to be able to draw on the expertise and support of specialist services,” Mr Whiteman said.
“It is unfair on staff and pupils for schools to be left to struggle to paper over the cracks left by an unacceptable postcode lottery in early support and mental health treatment, in which many children face long waits for treatment or are told their problems are not bad enough to warrant help.
“We welcomed the introduction of mental health support teams working with schools, but the government must speed up their roll-out and go further by investing in counselling services in all schools.
“The government must also fund easy-access mental health support services in every community offering early support to children with emerging issues, while also investing more in treatment and crisis services so all children get help when they need it.”
Dame Rachel’s report also highlights:
- An increase in children being referred to children and young people’s mental health services (CYPMHS) to 734,000 children in 2021-22 from 498,000 in 2020-21, which could reflect a methodology change and the increase in the prevalence of probable mental health disorders.
- Fewer than half (48 per cent) of the 1.4 million children estimated to have a mental health disorder received at least one contact with CYPMHS.
- An increase in the proportion of children whose referrals were closed before any treatment, with wide variation across England: the proportion was as high as 50 per cent in NHS North Cumbria and as low as 5 per cent in NHS East Sussex.
- The average waiting time between a child being referred to CYPMHS and starting treatment increased from 32 days in 2020-21 to 40 days in 2021-22.
Dame Rachel said: “As soon as I took office, children told me how important their mental health is to them. That’s why I have made it a key pillar of my work - and why I am particularly concerned to see such a surge in demand for help.
“It’s clear that mental health support for children across the country is patchy, despite some good progress made by the NHS in the years leading up to the pandemic. I want to see mental health support teams delivered in every school by the end of 2025.
“We need a clear-eyed focus on the specific needs of children in government mental health investment. No child should live in an institution. They should be surrounded and cared for by people who love them, with early help made available to prevent them reaching crisis point - but until this is possible, much more must be done to make inpatient wards feel safe and familial, mirroring the relationships they have at home.”
A government spokesperson said: “These figures highlight how important it is that we do everything we can to support our children and young people with their mental health.
“We are already investing £2.3 billion a year into mental health services, meaning an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to access NHS-funded mental health support they need by 2024.
“Support in school is vital, and we are committed to increasing the number of mental health teams to almost 400 by April 2023, providing support to 3 million children and young people.”
