Child mental health services in England: a continuing crisis (8 February 2020)

Summary

This editorial in The Lancet examines the growing gap between the mental health needs of children and young people in the UK, and the services available to support them. It comments on the report by the Children's Commissioner 'The state of children’s mental health services 2018/19', which highlighted that an estimated 13% of children aged 5–19 years in England have a mental health disorder, with the true numbers of children affected are likely to be much higher.

The article looks at treatment delays, long waiting lists and the denial of treatment for children whose symptoms are not considered 'serious enough'. It highlights chronic underfunding and lack of parity between physical and mental health problems as major causes.