Children could face year-long wait for help from local mental health charity
Response charity highlights urgent need for funding as demand for mental health support rises
A mental health charity that operates across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire said demand for its children's services is at crisis levels, with some young people waiting up to a year to receive support.
Jamie Douglas, Associate Director for Children, Young People and Families at Response, said long waiting times for statutory NHS services have left families struggling for options and turning to local charities for help.
He highlighted that nationally, 28% of referrals into NHS mental health services for children and young people result in wait times of over a year and around 40,000 young people wait over two years to be seen.
Additionally, he said that nearly half of referrals do not even make it onto a waiting list.
Charities like Response are working to fill the gaps in statutory support, though they too are struggling to keep up with demand.
Jamie explained that Response launched a new mental health service around a year ago and they already have a waiting list of 10 to 15 young people.
"We're probably looking at up to a year for the person who's at the bottom of that wait list to be seen by us," he said.
“Our service at the moment is only based on one worker,” Jamie said. “We’re already overwhelmed with young people waiting.”
Jamie shared that one of the hardest parts of the work is informing parents that their child might not be able to access help straight away.
"They'll go to a GP and be told either 'we’re not going to support you' or 'we’re going to put you on a waiting list' so they'll come to charities like us," he said.
"It's almost like doors being closed multiple times in their faces for support so it's really hard to have that conversation with parent."
The charity is actively seeking additional funding in order to hire more workers and expand its capacity.
This month, Response has launched its Challenge 28 campaign, drawing on both the 28 days in February but also the key statistic that 28% of young people wait over a year to access mental health support.
They are asking people to take on challenges centred around the number, such as running or swimming 28 miles, to raise funds.
Money raised will go directly towards creating additional roles within Response’s mental health support service.
Jamie stressed that more government funding is also important to address the growing demand for mental health support and ensure that young people receive the help they need.