In Theresa May’s recent speech to parliament she stated that she wanted to end the stigma of mental illness and improve the state of mental healthcare in the UK. As a researcher into mental health services for children and adolescents, I hear often about the struggle parents have to get an appointment for their child to be seen by a psychologist, or the problems they face when care ends at 16-18, without the smooth transition to adult services enabling continuity of care.
Whilst it is vital that more money is spent on the NHS as a whole (recent talks of ‘crisis’ in A&E departments shows the obvious need for more resources), money which is promised to mental health services cannot be diverted to other areas which are struggling. These areas are definitely important, but they should not be funded to the detriment of youth mental health services.
Research by Young Minds (2014) found that 77% of NHS Trusts who responded had cut or frozen their Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) funding between 2013 and 2015. Significantly, demand for these services increased over this time. This increase reflects a general trend over the last 20 or so years, for example the number of 15-16 year olds with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and 2000s, and the number of young people being admitted to hospital for self harm has gone up by a massive 68% in the last 10 years (http://www.youngminds.org.uk/training_services/policy/mental_health_statistics).
Current services do not meet the need for care, with up to one in every four or five teenagers thought to have a mental illness. In a typical school, this would be around 3 in each classroom in the UK. With 75% of mental illness having an onset before the age of 24 (Kessler et al, 2005), it is vital that young people can access the services they need during this critical time in their development.
As mentioned above, care at CAMHS often ends when a young person is between the ages of 16 and 18. There are separate services for children and adults (CAMHS, versus AMHS) and this can represent a significant disruption of care. Young people have to move to a new adult service, in a new location and form a relationship with new healthcare professionals. Previous research has found that only 4% of patients experienced an optimal transition (Singh et al 2010). Problems identified included a shortfall in time spent planning for transition, inadequate information transfer, and poor continuity of care. There may not even be an appropriate adult service in the local area which the young person can move to, for example in the case of autism or attention deficit disorder.
I am a researcher on the Milestone Project, an EU funded study currently investigating transition in nine different countries in Europe. My role involves interviewing young people and parents about their experiences of mental health services in the UK, and following them up over a period of time to see what happens to them when they leave CAMHS. The results of this study won’t be ready for some time, however it is clear to me that more needs to be invested into improving access for young people to mental health services.