Government intransigence over immigration rules causing problems for CAHMS services.

Figures produced by the NHS and highlighted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) show that in some parts of the country there are just 4 consultant psychiatrists for every 100,000 children.

This despite government promises to recruit an extra 100 psychiatrists specialising in child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) by 2021 as part of its mental health workforce plan.

Sussex, Surrey and Kent are the worst served areas with 4 consultant psychiatrists for every 100,000 children, North Central and East London fare best with 17 psychiatrists for the same number of young people.

This shortfall comes at a time when, according to the Children’s Society 10% of children between the ages of 5-16 have clinically diagnosed mental health conditions, yet 70% have not received an appropriate intervention.

Figures produced by the Mental Health Foundation show that 20% of adolescents have a mental health condition, early intervention is vital as 50% of enduring mental health problems are established by the age of 14.

Under the mental health workforce plan unveiled last year the government plans to increase the number of people working in the sector, plans to do so have been criticised as ‘naive’ by Labour MP Luciana Berger.

Writing in Progress in August of last year she said ‘long hours and low morale’ were driving staff leaving the mental health sector, adding that ‘a dangerously underfunded and overstretched environment’ is hardly likely to attract new recruits.

She also called for the budget for mental health services to be protected saying that despite government promises it had not been ‘ring fenced’ and had been ‘siphoned off to prop up other areas of the NHS’.

Responding to the shortage of psychiatrists trained to work with young people Dr Bernadka Dubika, Chair of the Child and Adolescent faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists told Mental Health Today ‘short-staffing in CAMHS is no secret, we are already struggling, and the government’s own green paper impact assessment predicts a rise in referrals’.

Among the solutions proposed by the RCP is recruitment of more mental health professionals from overseas to plug the gap in the short term.

There are though significant problems in attaining clearance for such professionals to work in the UK, speaking to Mental Health Today Dr Dubika cited the case of an Indian psychiatrist who had his application turned down because the quota for tier two visas had been reached, psychiatrists are not included on the Home Office ‘shortage speciality list’.

Dr Dubika called for the Home Office to reconsider the occupations included on the list, saying ‘recruiting from overseas is key to quickly employing doctors specialising in children’s mental health and will ensure the profession is seen as a priority by the Home Office’.