BARROW mental health service providers have echoed concerns raised by new figures revealing thousands of young people are being denied care.

A new report by the Education Policy Institute found that more than one in four children and young people referred to specialist mental health services - approximately 133,000 youngsters - are rejected for treatment, with 22 per cent of referrals in the North of England rejected in 2018/19.

Sue Johnson, manager at Barrow’s Drop Zone Youth Project, said: “These figures do ring true, sadly.

“We’re here - along with the SAFA - once people’s conditions begin to escalate. We know the waiting lists for mental health treatment on the NHS are quite extensive.

“Young people tend to live very much ‘in the now.’ So being tuned away for, say, a coupe of months - often it can be as many as 12 - can have huge ramifications in terms of their mental health condition[s].

“Often a lot of young people don’t have a detailed sense of the funding challenges, so being turned away like this can be taken by them as a real knock back. They need the contact.”

Mental health campaigner and former town councillor, Michael Cassells, said: “There used to be a real problem in this area with budget restrictions. Now NHS chiefs report the main problem is more to do with staffing shortages.

“That said, though, some progress has been made across Furness in terms of service provision levels. The involvement of Barnardo’s, in particular, has helped with this.

“There are still some issues with waiting lists in terms of patients - old and young - with more complex needs, where there is still work to be done.”