Children in England at clear risk ‘cannot get mental health bed’

Report says young person has to have attempted suicide multiple times to be offered inpatient support

• Case study: ‘Young people in crisis are just dismissed’

Young people in the midst of a mental health crisis need to have attempted suicide several times before they get a bed in an inpatient unit in England, a report has revealed.

Admission criteria for beds in child and adolescent mental health units are now so tight that even very vulnerable under-18s who pose a clear risk to themselves cannot get one.

Under-18s are seeking help at A&E for serious mental health problems because mental health crisis services are inadequate, even though emergency departments are not set up to deal with that.

Private operators now provide most of the mental health inpatient care for children and young people who are deemed unwell enough to need a bed, but these cost up to £4,200 a week – far more than on the NHS.

Some under-18s who have taken an overdose or self-harmed end up being looked after in children’s wards of acute hospitals while they wait to undergo a mental health assessment, and then wait “for days or weeks” for a bed in a Camhs unit.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.