Tackling underfunding in children’s mental health services The government has promised a national network of crisis and home-treatment teams to cope with increasing demand for services
Ask anyone involved with children’s mental health services what the biggest problem facing them is, and they will say one of two things: funding and demand. “There is a historic legacy of underfunding and neglect,” says Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Claire Tyler, chair of the recent commission set up to look at how to improve mental health services for children and young people. There is also an unprecedented level of need: Wales alone witnessed a 100% increase in demand for child and adolescent mental health services between 2010 and 2014.
But the previous coalition and current Conservative governments have put a focus on improving services. In the March 2015 budget, just before the general election, the government promised an extra £250m a year for five years to mental health services for young people, pregnant women and new mothers. In February, the government endorsed the key targets for children and young people’s services proposed by the independent Mental Health Taskforce. These include a maximum two-week referral for a child or adolescent following their first psychotic episode, and the development of a national network of crisis and home-treatment teams which will offer young people intensive support at home rather than in hospital. It is hoped that these moves will help support at least 70,000 more young people a year with mental health issues by 2020-21. Continue reading... The Guardian
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Ask anyone involved with children’s mental health services what the biggest problem facing them is, and they will say one of two things: funding and demand. “There is a historic legacy of underfunding and neglect,” says Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Claire Tyler, chair of the recent commission set up to look at how to improve mental health services for children and young people. There is also an unprecedented level of need: Wales alone witnessed a 100% increase in demand for child and adolescent mental health services between 2010 and 2014.
But the previous coalition and current Conservative governments have put a focus on improving services. In the March 2015 budget, just before the general election, the government promised an extra £250m a year for five years to mental health services for young people, pregnant women and new mothers. In February, the government endorsed the key targets for children and young people’s services proposed by the independent Mental Health Taskforce. These include a maximum two-week referral for a child or adolescent following their first psychotic episode, and the development of a national network of crisis and home-treatment teams which will offer young people intensive support at home rather than in hospital. It is hoped that these moves will help support at least 70,000 more young people a year with mental health issues by 2020-21. Continue reading... The Guardian
See also:
- Perinatal mental health should be a priority The Guardian
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