Children in mental health crisis spent more than 900,000 hours in A&E in England

Restrictive: Children as young as three in crisis offices for psychological well-being issues, reveals Work

'We've failed young people': mystery specialist on NHS delays

Young people experiencing mental wellbeing emergencies spent more than 900,000 hours in A&Es in Britain last year seeking desperate and possibly life-saving help, NHS figures reveal.

Specialists said the colossal rate of time under-18s with psychological health problems were spending in A&E was "absolutely staggering" and showed that NHS administration for this vulnerable age group was inadequate.

Children as young as three and four years old appear to be among those who find themselves in crisis wards with regard to psychological health issues, according to Work.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan,

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, shadow chaplain for mental wellbeing, who is also an A&E specialist, said: “Young people with dysfunctional behavior have nowhere to turn to break down and end up at the point of emergency – when A&E is the main place they can go . Crisis offices are an extremely unsatisfactory environment for young people in need, but we are bringing more and more young children into A&E in need."

Young people who experienced lengthy A&E delays included those with discouragement, psychosis and dietary problems, as well as some who had self-harmed or attempted suicide, specialists said.

Allin-Khan obtained the information by order of data from 81 intensive clinic trusts in Britain - representing 73% of them - which showed that under-18s burned 657,953 hours in their A&Es in 2021-22, where their main protest was related to their psychological problems. comfort. The MP then used the normal number of hours in those 81 trusts to work out that children and young people in each of the 111 trusts she looked at spent a total of 901,640 hours - or just under 103 years - in the crisis division. .

"The number of hours young people in mental health need have spent in A&E - often in a stormy and unpleasant climate - is absolutely staggering," said Deirdre Kehoe, Youthful Personalities' training and benefits supervisor. "It is puzzling that young people have stood aside so long for something to be seriously considered."

The figures are likely to reflect that under-18s in emotional well-being need in A&E often need to stay long enough, either for assessment or treatment by subject matter experts, in addition to a bed in a child and adolescent psychiatry. - be a private unit.

"Those are really staggering numbers. For a youngster in an emotional wellness crisis, it's deeply troubling to have to sit and nurse for a long time," said Andy Chime, executive director of the Middle for Psychological well-being. research organization.

The number of hours spent in A&E has increased recently as more children and young people experience emotional health problems. For example, the range of 17- to 19-year-olds with a probable problem jumped from 10% in 2017 to 26% last year, part of the way determined by the coronavirus pandemic.

Essentially, the estimated absolute hours spent by under-18s in A&E rose from 698,411 in 2017-18 to 901,640 last year, Allin-Khan's NHS information shows. Young people in the midst of serious mental distress go to A&E, which is designed to treat physical rather than psychological health problems, because there is hardly any access for them outside of the clinic, especially to encourage early intervention.

Ringer said:

 "While the NHS is expanding the management of children's emotional well-being, meeting developing levels of need is a struggle. Without enforced early help networks, even young people who have to hold out until they reach an emergency state will receive support, putting even more strain on crisis management and long-term beds."

Allin-Khan said:

 "Young people's psychological well-being services have fallen into a state of emergency with very popular, inadequate support arrangements at local level and a lack of beds for child and young people's emotional well-being management. It's terrible and absolutely disappointing, isn't it." because of the government's long neglect of [mental health] local authorities, they are bombarding our young people."

Information provided by University Clinics Southampton NHS trust showed that a three-year-old child, whose central protest was linked to psychological well-being, spent five hours and 28 minutes in A&E in 2021-22. A year ago, a four-year-old child also burned two hours and 28 minutes there.

This trust has also been met with an emotional expansion in the number of under 18s in mental wellbeing emergencies in A&E. In 2012-13, she treated 21 young people who between them spent 92 hours in her crisis office. Anyway, in 2021-22 it had 230 young people who burned 2812 hours in A&E. Essentially, the longest A&E waiting time experienced by anyone under 18 there has risen from 20 hours and 12 minutes in 2012-13 to 50 hours and five minutes in 2021-22.

Allin-Khan said a Labor government would ensure every school embraced support for student emotional wellbeing, set up a local "open access point" and employ 8,500 new psychological wellbeing staff, paid under the terms of the fee closure.

In this week's report on the NHS's emotional well-being benefits, the Public Review Office said children and young people were among the encounters who experienced the longest problems with care and treatment for mental health problems.

Kehoe said: 

"A&E departments are not ideal places for individuals experiencing what can be possibly the most ridiculously distressing time of their lives, let alone children as young as this. The new NHS declaration that emotional wellbeing specialists will currently be based Focus on control of an emergency vehicle is an unmistakable confirmation that individuals in emotional health distress need professional help."

The Division of Welfare and Social Care refused to respond directly to the extended stays of under-18s in A&E. A representative said: “We are putting an extra £2.3 billion a year into managing emotional wellbeing, with the aim that an extra 2 million individuals can get the help they need, including an extra 345,000 children and young people.

“Similarly, we are putting £150m into plans that address pressures on nearby critical and crisis mental wellbeing care pathways and support individuals to really focus closer to home, including options other than A&E and medical clinic confirmations, such as emergencies. houses, refuges, and departing administrations."

The representative added that there were 287 emotional well-being support groups in around 4,700 schools and universities across the country, which was expected to increase to 400 by April.