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Children and Young people’s mental health is a growing issue in our community with the NHS estimating that 1 in 5 children aged 8 to 25 have a probable mental health condition.
Children and Young people’s mental health is a growing issue in our community with the NHS estimating that 1 in 5 children aged 8 to 25 have a probable mental health condition and the data suggesting that the demand for children’s mental health services far surpasses the availability of support.
Whilst there has been a welcome increase in investment in this area, the average spend-per-child by NHS commissioners in England ranges from £34 to £141*, with nearly 68% of children referred not receiving any support and nearly 40 000 children experiencing a wait of over two years to see a CAMHS professional and younger children suffering the longest waiting periods. These numbers vary geographically, meaning that it can often be a postcode lottery as to the support a child receives. For those with more complex issues or cumulative problems that require a variety of support, the money available simply doesn’t cover the support needed.
Overall rates of children and young people with probable mental health conditions have increased substantially in recent years, from about 1 in 8 (12.5%) children and young people in 2017 to 1 in 5 (20.3%) in 2023. If the current trend continues without a solution, this is expected to increase to over 1 in 4 (28.1%) by 2028.
So what can we do?
Children’s brain development, mental health and wellbeing are influenced by many factors as they grow up, from their relationships with parents, carers and other children, to whether they feel safe and supported in their school and local community. For children to have good mental health and wellbeing, much of the critical prevention work must happen via the community around them.
By engaging substantively in this problem together, we hope we can come to some meaningful conclusions that will allow us as a whole, to better notice, protect and support our children and young people during their formative years and help lessen the impact of poor mental health at this crucial life stage.
In Frome we are lucky that there is great work being done through community initiatives, social prescribing and movements like Green and Healthy Futures; responsive, reactive community-led care for our youth. Through this Hackathon, we want to widen the conversation and bring in as many voices as possible across our community to ask what we can do collectively to go further and better support our children and young people.
*Data in 2021/22. UNICEF report The State of the World’s Children 2021