Hundreds of young people face mental health problems

Mental health charities have warned about an under reported “national crisis” among children, and say short-staffed public services cannot tackle the problem unless funding is increased.

New NHS data shows 775 people aged under 18 were seen at least twice by mental health services in Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group in 2018-2019.

That’s a ratio of 37 per every 1,000 children in the area, compared to 32 on average in England.

A recent report by the Association of Child Psychotherapists said child and adolescent mental health services are facing a “serious and worsening crisis” due to underfunding.

Dr Nick Waggett, chief executive of the Association of Child Psychotherapists, said: “These new figures confirm national prevalence data showing that mental illness amongst children and young people is increasing.”

Richard Crellin, policy and research manager at The Children’s Society, said many more children require assistance, but are being turned down by the NHS.

He said: “Our research found up to 110,000 10 to 17 year olds seeking help are being turned away because their problems were not deemed ‘serious’ enough.

“Those that are being seen have to wait 12 weeks between referral and treatment on average but this varies and we know some children are having to wait for up to a year.”

Article by data reporter Miguel Rodriguez