Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the health and well-being consequences for children who were not accepted for treatment last year despite being referred for specialist mental health care.

Some children and young people might find self-help or accessing support in schools more beneficial than a course of treatment in a specialist National Health Service mental health service and there are a range of reasons why children and young people may not access NHS services. A significant proportion of children and young people who seek help are legitimately signposted to other sources of help.

For example, a child displaying signs of anxiety due to a troubled home environment might need a social care response. We know that some children and young people or their parents might prefer to receive help from voluntary sector services.