Healthwatch report reveals 90% increase in mental health issues on young people
A report by Healthwatch Warrington has highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Children and Young People in Warrington, with GPs struggling to meet demand reporting a 90 % increase in mental health issues.
Some GPs said the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) was "overwhelmed" and "not fit for purpose."
Parents surveyed stated that the Covid 19 pandemic has seriously affected their children’s behaviour, reporting new serious mental health disorders, including anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm and depression.
The original report was published in 2020 by Healthwatch Warrington. As part of Healthwatch recommendations, Warrington and Halton CCG commissioned the more detailed report which describes young peoples' experiences throughout lockdown.
A total of 1,342 people fed information into the report, including 21 GPs, 87 teachers, 11 professionals, 384 parents, 554 Key stage 3-5 Young people and 26 KS1-2 children via survey data.
Engagement interviews took place with 69 parents/carers, 132 young people, 16 teachers/mental health teams and 42 CYP Practitioners/Professionals.
When asked how the pandemic made them feel students mostly said ‘worried’, followed by ‘I remained positive’ and ‘sad’.
Those who selected ‘other’ commented that the pandemic made them feel “bored”, “lonely”, “depressed”, “stressed”, “anxious”, “unmotivated”, “overwhelmed”, and “mixed emotions”.
Students were asked what they did to stay happy and well during the lockdown. The popular answers were music, online gaming, social media, walking, and exercise.
Out of 554 responses, it was concerning to hear that 33% of Children and young people reported feeling worried, and 27% reported feeling sad throughout the covid period. On a positive note, it was good to hear that 28% of children and young people felt positive, and lockdown had a positive effect.
It was good to report that the children and young people were creative in their activities, which appeared to have kept them occupied and positive.
Out of 384 parents surveyed 60% of parents said the pandemic had an impact on their children’s emotional wellbeing or mental health. Only 16% thought the pandemic has had no impact.
Many parents said that the pandemic has impacted their children’s mental health by causing them to become “more anxious”, “withdrawn”, “isolated”, “very nervous”, “lonely”, “stressed”, “worry more”, “more cautious”, and have “deep sadness about the future”.
16% of parents said that their children accessed services, support groups, or drop-in groups during the pandemic, such as CAMHs, SALT, counselling, and school groups – 61% said their experience was ‘good’ or ‘very good’.
12% of parents said their child was referred to a counselling service during the pandemic. Some parents are still waiting for sessions; some say that the sessions they received were helpful but would like more, and some say that it has benefited their child. A small number of parents said sessions had not had any benefit on their child.
Unsurprisingly, parents stated that the Covid-19 pandemic had seriously affected their children’s behaviour. Unfortunately, some reported new serious mental health disorders, including anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm and depression.
Of 87 teachers surveyed a very concerning result was that 75% of teachers said that students have self-harmed, and 68% said that students have presented with suicidal thoughts. Teachers feel they need extra support with this.
80% of teachers said they had concerns for their colleague’s mental health/emotional wellbeing. Only 54% said that they would feel confident in supporting a colleague.
Of the 12 professionals took part in this survey, 100% of professionals said that since the beginning of the pandemic, their service had seen an increase in the number of children and young people presenting with mental health issues. 83% said this increase had been significant.
Meanwhile GPs had seen a 90% increase in appointments presenting with mental health issues. A total of 81% said CAMHS did not meet expectations compared to 19 per cent saying it met expectations.
Another said: "“CAMHS are overwhelmed by crisis presentations and there is no leeway to assess/support families before that stage is reached.”
Another said: "A lot of patients and families unfortunately don’t find CAMHS particularly useful. They did not find that the ‘exercises/ strategies/tools’ they were given were particularly helpful. I’m often told that once a risk assessment was done there was no further input. The service is also very confusing for those transitioning to adult services. 16- and 17-year-olds tend to be in ‘limbo’ when it comes to their care. As a GP I’m often unsure how to proceed with such patients.”
Children and Young Peoples feedback on GP services found most under 16s wanted to talk to a GP without their parents present.
"My GP really listened to me and referred me to CAMHS, he also told me to look online for support whilst I wait for my appointment. I am still waiting and have now been on the waiting for CAMHS for 8 months. I am still self-harming; I talk to my friend a lot and have spoken to Papyrus about self-harming; they were really good.”
A total of 69 parents were interviewed 1-1 as part of the report. Parents raised various concerns regarding the impact on lockdown on their children's mental health, including various issues including self harming, eating disorders, ADHD and depression.
One parent said her 17-year-old son waited for over 12 months for online CBT through CAMHS, which he couldn’t really engage with. He spoke with a male counsellor over the phone once from CAMHS, who he got on with and liked. He hoped he would have him for therapy, but he said he couldn’t offer him anything and would put him on the waiting list for support. She said she had found the whole CAMHS process "very confusing."
Out of 384 parents surveyed 60% of parents said the pandemic had an impact on their children’s emotional wellbeing or mental health. Only 16% thought the pandemic has had no impact.
Responses from Primary Care Network leads, included Dr Laura Mount, Clinical Director Central and West PCN who said: "It is very clear that the events of the last few years have only worsened the Mental Health of our population nationally. An already greatly stretched health service has now had to cope with an unprecedented escalation in demand that it was not fit to accommodate. The experience of the patients and my fellow colleagues detailed in this report is very distressing to read. We are committed as a PCN to work with our system partners, including the specialist providers, commissioners, and NHS England, to look at ways of working together to improve this situation."
Healthwatch CEO Lydia Thompson said: "There is currently a lot of positive work from professionals working with children and young people, and the Commissioners of services are providing future services to address most of these needs.
"Healthwatch Warrington is reporting back from data received from our research and has considered recommendations accordingly.
"Covid-19 lockdown has affected most of our population, adults as well as children and young people. We appreciate that this has been a worldwide pandemic; findings will mirror other areas nationally. We are, however, reporting on Warrington’s children and young people’s, professionals’ and parents’ experiences. We aim to inform and assist with solutions moving forward in partnership with commissioners and providers.
"The data has highlighted how particularly the education sector (Teachers/Staff) have struggled with the pressure and stress of the pandemic, balancing the needs of their students whilst balancing their own mental well-being.
"The pandemic has highlighted how important local groups are for people’s wellbeing and mental health. Many people have found organisations like Homestart, Parents in Mind, Youth Clubs (EMPOWER, Girls Group), and Carers groups a lifeline and having a safe space for people to talk and not be judged.
"More investment in local support groups could help the strain on services like CAMHS.
"An area of particular concern is the rise in suicidal thoughts and self-harm in young people who have taken part in our research, the 30% of young people who stated that they would not ‘talk to anyone if they were feeling low.
"We would like to give special thanks to the young people, parents, professionals, agencies and partners who participated in our research.
Lydia added: "Thank you to Warrington and Halton CCG for funding the project."
The report is now available to read and can be found by clicking here