IT has taken a few years for the shape and scale of the crisis in mental health services for children and teenagers to become clear, but the lack of help and support for young people when they need it is troubling. Not only are the waiting times far too long in some cases, hundreds of children and young people are being treated on unsuitable adult wards. Mental services are feeling the strain, and young people are suffering.
To make matters worse, it would now appear that a service that is designed to find help for young people at an early stage, thereby reducing the strain on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), is not working as it should. According to official policy, a named mental health links worker should be available in every school to act as first contact for any pupil experiencing mental health difficulties. But a freedom of information request by Labour seems to show that the policy is not working and in some cases is non-existent.
The FOI request was sent to all 32 local authorities in Scotland and asked them if they employed a mental health link worker. Fourteen councils said they did not employ such a person and a further 12 said they did not hold any information on the role – this despite the fact that earlier this year Maureen Watt, the mental health minister, said in a letter to the health and sport committee that a mental health link worker was available to every school.
The Scottish Government has implied in its response to the claims that the picture on the ground may be better than the FOI suggests but the lack of clarity over what is, or is not, available to young people is worrying in itself. At best, there is confusion about what health boards and schools are supposed to be doing; at worst, children and young people are not getting the help and support they need when they first experience mental health difficulties.
Greater clarity on the issue is now needed so any shortfalls in the services can be addressed, but the Government should also consider following the example of Wales, where a counselling service is available in every school. Since the service was introduced in Wales, teachers have noticed an improvement in pupils’ behaviour, but the service has also been credited with reducing the psychological distress of children.
If the Scottish Government means it when it says it takes child and adolescent mental health very seriously, then it needs to determine at once whether mental health link workers are really available in every school, but it should also introduce a pilot along the lines of the service in Wales.
A pilot copying the Welsh example could help thousands of young people in need of support, but it could also shift the focus much more towards prevention and early intervention which we know can reduce the numbers of young people who require specialist psychiatric care. Mental health services for young people are under great strain in Scotland and an efficient mental health service that works effectively in schools has the potential to change things for the better.
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