Why Are We Tolerating Long Waiting Times For Children?

The data on waiting times unearthed by The Independent show huge disparities in the amount of time children and young people are waiting for their first appointment with mental health services.

- Elaine Lockhart

The postcode lottery means on average some children in one part of the country are seen within a week of their referral; others in a different part of the country are waiting nearly four months. Some are forced to wait nearly three years.

This is scandalous and wouldn’t be tolerated if kids were waiting that long for physical health treatment, but because it’s mental health it’s somehow deemed acceptable.

One of the reasons for the postcode lottery is the lack of consultant psychiatrists. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recent census found that 10 percent of these posts in England are vacant.

Like waiting times, there’s huge variation across the country with some areas having vacancy rates of 5 percent, while others are at 15 percent. However, the problem is more acute in child and adolescent mental health services where 15 percent of posts are vacant.