Maximum waiting times to access child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is one of the key proposals in the government’s paper on children’s mental health, details of which have been obtained by the Guardian. Students with more complex mental health problems, such as psychosis and personality disorders, would still be treated by children’s mental health services under the plan, however. Theresa May has identified mental health, and young people’s mental welfare in particular, as one of the “burning injustices” she wants to tackle as prime minister. Sarah Brennan, the chief executive of the charity Young Minds, said: “The green paper is a huge opportunity to tackle the mental health crisis we are seeing among children and young people in England. But it is also crucial that the government commits to proper long-term sustainable funding for CAMHS.”Barbara Keeley, shadow cabinet minister for mental health, said: “These proposals will add to the litany of Tory failures on children and young people’s mental health if they don’t receive proper funding.

Source: The Guardian November 23, 2017 20:48 UTC