As a parent, I know how special the bond is to our children. We give our time, energy, and resources without a second thought, to nurture, guide and raise them.
So I can only imagine the distress and heartache a family feels when their child is suffering with their mental health.
Over the past year, I have spoken to many affected families and, with this week being Children’s Mental Health Week, I led a debate in the House of Commons specially on children’s mental health services in Lincolnshire.
Our country has witnessed a significant cultural shift and made great strides in recognising the importance of mental health, placing it in parity with physical health, both in law and in practice.
Parity now also extends to funding, with the Government ensuring that any overall increase in NHS funding is matched by a proportionate increase in mental health spending, and mental health services will receive an additional £2.3 billion each year by 2023/24.
Locally, NHS leaders and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) have responsibility for our mental health strategy, and the services they commission have consistently been rated ‘outstanding’ by the regulator. While hospital care can be lifesaving, it is right that the majority of children with mental health problems should be seen in a familiar and comfortable setting – at home.
Undoubtedly, schools also have an important role to play, which is why I am glad mental health teaching is becoming available in all schools, and all eligible schools and colleges will have a mental health lead member of staff by 2025. It is vital that all children are not only taught how to look after their own mental health, but how to recognise when a classmate is struggling.
Furthermore, LCC has commissioned four new Mental Health Support Teams which can provide early, continuous support to young people in various educational settings, and I am pushing for further expansion into Grantham, Bourne or Stamford.
However, we cannot ignore that there are challenges which hinder children’s mental health services locally, and perhaps the central issue is our recruitment and retention of specialist staff.
In our rural area, as in other healthcare sectors, we struggle to recruit specialist staff away from more densely populated areas, and towns and cities. This issue has only become more apparent after the pandemic. It is estimated that 1.5 million young people in Britain may require new or additional mental health support than before the pandemic, only furthering the need for additional specialist staff in all counties, including our own.
Where staffing gaps emerge, local providers make use of occasional agency cover, which is not only expensive, but introduces a significant churn of personnel into their service. This is a particular issue given struggling children and their families need someone who they can get to know, and who can get to know them.
So while we have taken positive steps, and there are dedicated individuals and charities who are working hard to help, I know there is always more we can do to support our most vulnerable children.
