by Anna Kennedy OBE ||| Columnist
Yesterday I watched BBC Panorama’s ‘Kids in Crisis’.
Many parents share their experiences with us through our charity and I was not surprised to hear that Britain is in the grip of a child mental health crisis.
Nearly half a million children are awaiting treatment. The Government has promised more money for child mental health and reading messages across my social media it would appear to be very much a postcode lottery as it is for diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition.
I am speaking to parents where there children are being sent hundreds of miles away. This is a strain on the whole family and causes anxiety for the child experiencing mental health difficulties.
In the programme Sean Fletcher father to a yong man with OCD investigates and speaks to families that have been let down by the system . Watching Sean talk to families and children affected was heartbreaking.
Reading hundreds of messages on my social media pages the key phrases that were repeated over and over by families experiencing difficulties were :
• Parents feeling powerless
• Definitely a postcode lottery service
• CAMHS services are stretched
• Not fit for purpose
• Children at risk
• Travelling miles away and waiting years to be treated.
• A feeling of desperation.
• Attempts of suicide
• Parents breakdown.
• Not enough trained staff .
• Early intervention is crucial !!!!
The services need to change we must start working with children as soon as possible and stop fire fighting when it gets to crisis point.
These children are our future generation and they need our support.
