Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

(asked on 18th July 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for mental health support for children and young adults.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 26th July 2022

We are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year to enable a further two million people in England, including 345,000 young people, to access National Health Service-funded mental health support by 2023/24.

In 2021/22, we also provided £500 million to target those groups most affected by the pandemic, including children and young people.  Of this funding, £79 million was allocated to allow approximately 22,500 additional children and young people to access community health services; a further 2,000 to access eating disorder services; and accelerate the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. We have also invested £13 million to ensure young adults aged 18 to 25 years old, including university students, can receive tailored mental health support.

There are currently 287 mental health support teams in place in approximately 4,700 schools and colleges, offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression and other common mental health issues. This will increase to 399 teams, covering 35% of pupils, by April 2023, with more than 500 teams planned by 2024.

In February, NHS England published the outcomes of its consultation on the potential to introduce five new access and waiting time standards for mental health services. This includes a standard for children, young people and their families or carers presenting to community-based mental health services, should receive care within four weeks from referral. We are now working with NHS England on the next steps.

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