The Children’s Commissioner’s latest report Early Access to Mental Health Support provides further evidence that children suffering anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions face a postcode lottery when seeking treatment.
The report brings a welcome and timely focus on preventive and early intervention services for treating problems like anxiety and depression or eating disorders.
These services, which the report calls “low-level”, have often been funded by local authorities, or jointly with the NHS, and have been particularly hard hit by funding cuts.