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The top three earners at the Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust, which is commissioned to provide specialist Tier 3 help for children with moderate to severe mental health needs, earned more than £425,000 in salaries between them in the 2014/15 financial year.
However, help and support for children with moderate to severe mental health needs – such as behavioural issues, depression and self harm – continues to be considered a risk by other health bodies amid lengthy appointment waiting times and missed targets.
The top wages went to CPFT chief executive Claire Molloy, who banked a £160,000 salary last year which combined with pension and benefits gave her a financial package worth £220,000 while Dr John Howarth, director of service improvement, earned £145,000, taking a package worth £285,000 for the 2014/15 year.
Sarah Senior, director of finance, took home a salary of £120,000.
Latest figures on remuneration, contained within the trust’s newly published annual report, chart the organisation’s NHS Pensions Agency bill at £257.3m.
CPFT is commissioned by the Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group to provide expert help and support for children with moderate to severe mental health needs in Cumbria.
However, the service has been dogged by problems for the past five years.
The salaries and pension costs are revealed in the face of concerns and longstanding criticisms of the provision, run from the Fairfield Centre, in Fairfield Lane, Barrow.
A spokesman for the trust, said wide-ranging improvements were being implemented to help alleviate pressures on the service which has seen a 100 per cent increase in referrals since 2010.
A new whole system strategy is also being followed in a bid to quicken long waiting times for appointments and provide more early intervention for children and young people.
But they added mental health help for children and teenagers was only one of 60 different services provided by CPFT, which employs around 4,000 people and services 500,000 residents across Cumbria.
“The financial packages of the board of directors for Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust are published each year in our annual report available on our website.
“The specialist Camhs service is one of 60 services we provide across the county, alongside community services, mental health services, specialist services and services for children and families.
“The board of directors have received regular update papers on the challenges facing the service which have included face to face briefings from the children and families leadership team and patient stories.
“The directors have been instrumental in approving a series of actions to improve the specialist Camhs service and championing the need to have a whole systems approach to the emotional wellbeing of our children and young people.”
Bosses within CPFT point out that a number of external factors are contributing to problems within specialist Camhs services.
This includes a lack of early and preventative help for children and young people in the area resulting in 30 per cent of referrals to Barrow’s mental health medics not requiring Tier 3 help.
And recruitment difficulties mean there are two vacant posts for clinical paediatric pyschiatrists – making it difficult to offer prompt appointments for those in need.
A parent of a child in the care of Camhs has criticised the pension entitlements of the chief executives of CPFT.
Timeline
The developing crisis over past five years
September 2010: Dalton 10-year-old Harry Hucknall is found hanged in his bedroom.
March 2011: Inquest of Harry Hucknall criticises aspects of his care including that of Camhs.
March 2012: Serious case
review into death of Harry – known as Child F – highlights poor practice and failings in his care.
November 2012: Independent review of Camhs services in Cumbria finds it is understaffed, under-resourced and failing to keep up with demand for
appointments.
December 2013: Former
Windermere School girl Helena Farrell urgently referred to Camhs in Barrow for assessment but is not seen for two weeks.
January 2013: Helena is found hanged in woods near her Kendal home.
July 2014: Helena’s inquest hears she was judged by Camhs worker in Barrow to be of
medium suicide risk just 24 hours before she took her own life.
July 2014: Serious case review into care of Child J – Helena – heavily criticises all agencies
involved – but particularly Camhs – for failing to spot the signs.
July 2014: Coroner for south and east Cumbria, Ian Smith, writes a Rule 43 letter to warn of potential for further tragedy if the service does not improve.
April 2015: Staff crisis comes to light as Barrow is without a Camhs psychiatrist and professionals are drafted in from the north of the county to cover the gap.
April 2015: Mother speaks to the Evening Mail about her struggle in getting her self-harming daughter seen despite her previously taking an overdose of pills.
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