Last week was Children’s Mental Health week – an important time to reflect on the many pressures that too many of our children and young people face, which can lead to poor mental health and wellbeing.
I want to thank all the teachers, counsellors, youth workers, support workers and mental health professional who do so much to help our young people when they face challenges in their lives. I visited Dexter’s Adventure Playground in the Brixton part of my constituency to join a workshop for young people on mental health and wellbeing. It is great to see this important work in our local community.
We would all expect that a son or daughter, niece, nephew or grandchild would receive prompt medical assistance for a broken leg or appendicitis and mental health should be no different. Yet all too often, the support for young people facing a mental health crisis does not meet our expectations.
Southwark Council funds Peckham-based mental health service The Nest to expand into schools
As Labour’s Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years I want to see good and timely support for young people facing mental health pressures in schools and colleges and in our communities, with staff able to refer on more complex cases to our NHS.
I was really pleased to visit The Nest in Southwark last year, an open access facility where young people can drop in to receive support and advice in a welcoming environment, with trained professionals on hand. Labour is committed to introducing open access centres like this in communities across the whole country, as well as funding dedicated mental health professionals in our schools.
For those children and young people with more serious mental health conditions it is important that NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are easy to access, without long waiting lists. Currently far too many young people wait for many months to access services and this needs to change.
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I was delighted to visit the construction site of the new Pear’s Centre being built at the Maudsley Hospital, which aims to bring together both clinical services and research experts in a single purpose-built building. This will be a big improvement when it opens, but CAMHS services also need more staff to provide the services our young people need.
Labour will increase the number of doctors, nurses and other health professionals to tackle the long waiting lists that have built up over 13 years of Conservative and Liberal Democrat governments. We are committed to improving mental health and wellbeing for children and adults across the country.
Free support event for people living with Parkinson’s, MS and dementia
