A SURVEY of GPs has shone a light on their worries about mental health services, with almost nine in 10 fearing children will come to harm while on the waiting list for treatment.

Research by stem4, a charity that works to prevent mental ill health in teenagers, found three-quarters of doctors in England were seeing more young patients than five years ago.

More shockingly, exactly half of doctors polled had received no specialist training on self-harm and a further 36 per cent who had did not believe it was sufficient.

The evidence mirrors the situation in Cumbria, which has seen a huge increase in referrals for specialist services, and prompted the start of the Evening Mail's Healthy Young Minds campaign, which is in the running for a national award this week.

Waiting lists

Many calls have been made to improve the waiting list times, including from the National Autistic Society, as children with autism are much more likely to also have mental health disorders.

Janine Wigmore, area policy and participation officer for the north at the National Autistic Society, said: "Our charity raised serious concerns about Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Cumbria with the CQC last summer, after three years of complaints from parents of autistic children about long delays and poor service but no sign of improvements.

"We have since held discussions with the trust to try and address these issues. Local families tell us there hasn't been a noticeable change on the ground, but as the CQC report makes clear, there is a will to make improvements.

"We will continue working closely with the trust to make sure they implement the CQC's recommendations as soon as possible."

'Ticking time bomb'

The nationwide problem in dealing with mental health has seen authorities struggle to cope with funding levels and recruit staff with the specialist skills needed to offer talking therapy and interventions.

Dr Nihara Krause, consultant clinical psychologist and founder of stem4, said: "GPs are at the forefront of addressing this crisis and they need far more support.

"The increase in mental ill health among our young people is exacerbated by our trophy culture. They are under enormous pressure to succeed in every way, not only at school where they are constantly tested and graded, but also by endeavouring to gain social cachet by competing to be 'followed' and 'liked' on social media."

stem4's report, titled A Time Bomb Waiting to Explode paints a picture of patchy and underfunded services hit by shortages of specialists, long waits for treatment, and eligibility criteria so strict that GPs are deterred from making referrals. 

Shock findings

The survey of 302 GPs in England by stem4 found:

- 78 per cent of GPs are seeing more young patients with mental health problems than five years ago;

- 87 per cent of GPs expect pressure on services to increase;

- 97 per cent the doctors surveyed had seen a patient aged 11-18 suffering from depression over the past five years;

- Exactly half said they had received no specialist training on self-harm and 36 per cent said they had received training but it was not adequate for them to feel confident supporting young patients;

- Over the past five years 63 per cent had seen a young patient with an addiction problem;

- 89 per cent had seen patients with eating disorders;

- 85 per cent say health and social care services for children are either inadequate (59 per cent) or extremely inadequate (26 per cent);

- 83 per cent say services for young people who self-harm are either inadequate or extremely inadequate;

- Almost nine in ten (86 per cent) had concerns about patients coming to harm while waiting for treatment.

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