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 a 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.
Healthwatch Warrington CEO Lydia Thompson says:
"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 well-being 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.
Thank you to Warrington and Halton CCG for funding the project."
The report is now available to read and can be found below.
Read the Report
