Children needing mental health care forced to wait 'too long'

Young people needing mental health care are being forced to wait as long as 18-months for treatment, according to the health service regulator.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) review, found that four in 10 mental health services for children are failing.

It found many services set their own targets for how quickly youngsters should be seen, leading to children's mental health deteriorating while they waited.

The report showed in one case there was a wait of over a year for cognitive behavioural therapy and a 610-day wait for family therapy.

The CQC said "there is significant variation" in the targets being set by services.

One child may be seen within 35 days in one service, but a child in another part of the country may wait 18 weeks or more, it said.

The report also heavily criticised arrangements for crisis care for those in most desperate need.

Sometimes, this care was only available during working hours of 9am to 5pm, leaving night-time care provided by adult psychiatrists who lacked expertise in children's mental health.

The study added: "In inpatient services, our inspectors found that children and young people could not always be placed in the setting that would best meet their needs.

"The demand for inpatient beds outstrips availability in some parts of the country where fewer beds are available.

"As a result, some children and young people are being admitted to adult wards as there are no beds available in wards for people their age."

It said Public Health England estimated that only a quarter of children and young people who needed treatment for a mental health problem were able to access it.

It also told how, sometimes, children and young people "are repeatedly referred to different parts of the system after several services tell them they fail to meet the threshold for support".

Dr Paul Lelliott, lead for mental health at the CQC, said: "There are many people out there working to make sure that children and young people who experience mental health issues are offered caring support. Their dedication is to be celebrated.

"However, we must also address those times when a child or young person feels let down or not listened to and make sure the same level of support is available to each and every one of them."

The CQC did find that when young people were able to access specialist services, they often received good quality care.

But there were still significant concerns raised over safety, such as dirty services putting people at risk of infection, or environments that put children at risk of harm.