Almost 80 per cent of East Sussex children needing mental health treatment were left waiting, a study found

Almost 80 per cent of East Sussex children needing help with their mental health were still waiting for treatment at the end of the year, according to the children’s commissioner for England.

Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza spoke about the number of children waiting for treatment in the ‘Briefing on Children’s Mental Health Services – 2020/2021’, which was published this month.

In the briefing the commissioner said, “There is still wide variation between local areas on what is being achieved.

“For example, the percentage of children waiting for treatment at the end of the year varied greatly between local areas: from as low as 14 per cent in NHS Castle Point and Rochford and NHS Mid Essex, to 78 per cent in NHS East Sussex.

“Because of the pandemic, the challenge is also greater. Over the last two years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of children experiencing mental health problems.”

The children’s commissioner said NHS surveys have shown that before the pandemic, in 2017, one in nine children had a probable mental health disorder, while now it is one in six.

Ms De Souza added, “At the same time, we saw the number of children being referred to mental health services drop in the year 2020/21 (against a backdrop of increasing numbers pre-pandemic).

“It is likely that even though more children have mental health problems, fewer were being referred to services during lockdowns because of disruptions caused by the pandemic.”

On a positive note, the commissioner said the proportion of children whose referrals were closed before starting treatment has decreased to 24 per cent, down from 27 per cent in 2019/20 and 36 per cent in 2018/19.

Ms De Souza said, “This is positive as it suggests more children are being accepted for treatment.

“There remains notable variation across the country in the numbers of children whose referral was closed before treatment, from as low as eight per cent of referrals in NHS East Sussex, NHS Liverpool, and NHS Leeds to 41 per cent in NHS East and North Hertfordshire, NHS East Riding of Yorkshire and NHS Barnsley.

“However, this is still a large improvement from 2017/18 when, in some CCGs, more than 80 per cent of children had their referral closed before treatment.”

The commissioner said she launched the ‘Big Ask’, which is the biggest ever survey of children in England, to see how they felt about life today as the country emerges from the pandemic.

Ms De Souza said, “Over half a million children responded and it is clear that the vast majority are happy with their lives and optimistic about the future.

“Nevertheless, the one area that stood out for me as something we really need to get to grips with was children’s mental health and wellbeing.

“This generation of children are clearly very conscious that it is impossible to separate mental and physical health. They recognise the importance of good mental health now and for their future success.

“The majority of children were happy with their mental health. But, one in five children were not happy with their mental health, and this rose to two in five for some groups.”

A spokesperson for NHS East Sussex CCG said, “We have seen an unprecedented rise in demand nationally as a result of the impact of the pandemic for children and young people’s mental health.

“One of our main priorities is to ensure we are able to support children and young people struggling with their mental health by providing access to the right services at the right time, ensuring regular clinical monitoring takes place while people wait for the appropriate treatment.

“We have taken a number of steps to address this, including extensive funding that has supported a number of initiatives including the Sussex Mental Healthline – a 24/7 triage service for young people – enhanced home treatment support and increased online tools and support.”

The spokesperson from the CCG said after commissioning an independent review, an extensive programme of investment was agreed with a focus on prevention, early support and access to services.

NHS East Sussex CCG said it continues to work with health and care partners, alongside young people and their families, to make further improvements to the support available for people in the county.