Amid concerns being voiced that money for children’s mental health services is failing to reach the front lines, Sean Duggan (Chief Executive of Centre for Mental Health) was interviewed on the BBC Victoria Derbyshire show on Tuesday (8th March).
Speaking alongside Amy Selman, an eighteen year old who struggled to receive timely, effective support for mental health problems, Sean explained that 1 in 10 children suffer from a mental health problem. He reiterated concerns from providers that the funding was being spent by CCGs on other issues, but emphasised that “there is no better priority than child and adolescent mental health care”
He acknowledged that it can take time to design effective services with the right professionals in place, but argued “that should really have been thought of at the very beginning… that’s not an excuse. There are some probably legitimate delays, but let’s be open and transparent about that”. He emphasised that the money promised for children’s mental health needs to be ring-fenced to ensure that it makes a difference to services.
Referring to Amy’s story, he highlighted that waits of over a year for children’s mental health services are being reported, commenting “there are very real access problems, and kids are being let down”.
Read more about our work in children’s mental health here.
Broadcast on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme: www.bbc.co.uk/victoria
