Nearly 1 million kids referred for mental health help last year

NEARLY one million children and young people were referred for mental health help last year, a bombshell report shows.

Over 958,200 children in England were referred to Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services.

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Almost one million children and young people were referred for mental health help last year[/caption]

PA

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza called for urgent action to tackle waiting times[/caption]

This is equal to eight per cent of England’s population of 12 million children.

And an increase of 10,000 from the previous year, according to research by the Children’s Commissioner. 

Anxiety was the most common reason, followed by neurodevelopmental conditions and autism.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza called for urgent action to tackle waiting times.

She said: “The numbers in this report are staggering – but these are not numbers, these are real children who not only missing previous moments of their childhood while stuck waiting for vital treatment for months, sometimes years, but also the scaffolding that makes their lives happy and fulfilled with their friends.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “This week, we announced our intention to expand access to mental health teams in schools, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services in their community. 

“On top of this, we have announced £26 million to open new mental health crisis centres, while recruiting 8,500 mental health workers to give young people access to quality and sustained care.”