CHILDREN suffering a mental health crisis are feared to be at risk following an exodus of all permanent and locum clinical psychiatrists from the area's CAMHS service.
The situation reached crisis point this week when locum medics - who have been the sole clinicians at Barrow's Fairfield Lane Centre "for some time" - pulled out of shifts because of national changes to the amount of tax they must pay.
A raft of routine appointments for children and teenagers with moderate to severe mental health problems have already been cancelled, leaving desperate families with no option but to simply wait for them to be rescheduled.
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However, health bosses admit permanent reinforcements to psychiatry posts are not due to start at the town's Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service until the summer.
The situation has now led to concerns from those working within the service that a vulnerable child could miss out on the help they need with tragic consequences.
The area has already seen the deaths of two children who received inadequate care from the service; teenager Helena Farrell, in 2013, and Dalton schoolboy Harry Hucknall, 10, in 2010.
A spokesman for the Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust has now insisted any child referred urgently to CAMHS will still be seen.
As an emergency measure, a clinical psychiatrist from north Cumbria was due to be drafted in to see children in Kendal on Saturday morning though it is not clear whether this will be held regularly until the situation is resolved.
The spokesman added: "The clinical psychiatry element of CAMHS in Barrow has depended on locums for some time and although we have now recruited permanent clinical psychiatrists to Barrow, they will not be in place until the summer.
"In the meantime there have been national changes to the way all locums are paid which reduces their take-home pay, this seems to have worsened the recruitment and retention of locum consultants across the country, including Barrow.
"This affects a small number of families in our CAMHS service and. unfortunately, we have had to cancel 20 routine appointments.
"We have arranged for clinical psychiatrists from the north of the county to hold an additional clinic over the weekend to help ensure the most urgent cases are seen and the remaining appointments will be rescheduled as soon we are able to."
Children given an urgent referral to CAMHS must be seen within 48 hours, government guidelines state.
Helena Farrell, from Kendal, waited for more than two weeks for an urgent assessment at Barrow's CAMHS department.
She was found hanged in woodland near her home just a day after her appointment.
In September 2010 Dalton 10-year-old Harry Hucknall was found hanged in his bedroom.
An inquest in March 2011 criticised aspects of his care, including that of CAMHS.
Clinical psychiatrists working in Carlisle and the north of Cumbria are now taking on some of the workload in the absence of any experts in Barrow.
Parents are being assured that repeat prescriptions will still be available for children taking regular medication - while set appointments to see a clinical psychologist or CAMHS practitioners should also remain unaffected.
The spokesman added: "We recognise that this is an extremely difficult situation and that families are understandably concerned and we are sorry for the disruption this has caused.
"However, we would like to reassure families that we are reviewing the situation on a daily basis to return the clinical psychiatry to normal and we will continue to ensure that any children in urgent need of CAMHS psychiatric intervention are seen."
The latest blow to the town's CAMHS service has been sparked by new IR35 tax rules which state locums or contractors working in the public sector must pay the same level of tax and National Insurance as employees.
A spokesman for NHS Improvement - the national organisation in charge of supporting hospital and health trusts through changes - said: "It is right and fair that NHS clinical staff doing the same job should be paying the same tax.
"These rules wouldn't affect an individual if they are already paying the right amount of tax and it is unacceptable for anyone to hold the NHS to ransom or risk patient safety by refusing to work in an effort to pay less tax."
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