NHS announces funding boost to fight Covid impact on children's mental health

THERE is a rise in demand for mental health services for children and young people because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In order to meet the increased demand, NHS England has announced a £40 million funding boost for mental health services, saying the young people have been "hit hard" by the Covid-19 crisis.

According to an Evening Standard report, the fundings will be used to prevent children from being shifted miles away when a mental health hospital bed is not available in their area. It will also help boost community care and prevent hospital admissions.

This step comes after the Centre for Mental Health estimated up to 1.5 million children and young people in the UK will require mental health support as a direct impact of the pandemic during the next three to five years.

Across England £10 million funding is being used to provide extra beds at units which provide care for young people with the most complex needs, including eating disorders. Also £1.5 million will be provided to ensure additional facilities for children below 13.

NHS said money will be used to train staff working with children with mental health issues and also to help enhance out-of-hospital care.

Claire Murdoch, national mental health director for the NHS in England, said: “This pandemic has hit our young people hard and while services have remained open throughout, we have seen an increase in the numbers of children and young people seeking help from the NHS for their mental health.

“This additional funding is in recognition of the rising demand and our continued commitment to provide the best care as early as possible and to do as much to prevent children and young people needing hospital treatment as we do to ensure that when they are in hospital they receive the right treatment before being supported back at home.”

Mental health minister Nadine Dorries said: “Children and young people have been uniquely challenged by the events of the past year-and-a-half. We remain absolutely committed to supporting them through this pandemic and beyond, ensuring they have access to the tools and support they need to stay mentally well.

“While children can be very resilient, crises can have a huge impact on their mental health and we must continue to ensure they can access help if they need it.

“This funding boost builds on the £79 million previously announced as part of our Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, to expand children’s mental health services and open up eating disorder services to an extra 2,000 young people.”

A research done in 2020 by the Office for National Statistics and others found that one in six children aged five to 16 were identified as having a “probable mental disorder”, which was a significant rise from three years previously.