Teachers and campaigners say the government's "ambitious" proposals to increase mental health support in schools will do little to match the growing need because they aim to implement plans in only a quarter of schools by 2023.
Kabir Miah, deputy head at Swanlea Secondary School in Whitechapel, east London, where the proposals have been piloted to form the basis of the government's green paper, told BuzzFeed News he was disappointed mental health support wouldn't be universally available in schools.
"What happens to a child that’s in the other three-quarters of schools?" Miah said. "It’s really good work, and it’s a step in the right direction, but actually compared to the need that’s out there, it’s probably not enough."
A green paper jointly published by the Department of Health and the Department of Education this week outlines their plans to tackle mental illness, which affects 1 in 10 school-age children.
The measures are designed to help Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) identify and treat mental illness among pupils. This includes incentivising schools to designate a member of staff to lead mental health support, funding mental health support teams to work across schools and local NHS services, and cutting waiting times for CAMHS – which can be up to 18 months in some areas – to four weeks.
This is the bit that kills me. I don’t normally swear on Twitter, but WTF? WTAF? 5 years to wait for 20% of schools… https://t.co/jnk1Uo83qV
The government department aim to implement the plans, which are not compulsory, in only "a fifth to a quarter of the country by the end of 2022/23". It amounts to a staggered, five-year rollout in some "trailblazer" schools, and funding is only guaranteed for the period laid out in the most recent Budget.
"The precise rollout will be determined by the success of the trailblazers, and securing funding after 2020/21, the end of the government’s current spending period. This will be part of future spending review decisions," the proposals state.
The Department of Health said that trialling the proposals in a quarter of schools would allow it to understand the resources required and the effects of the measures.
Janet Bergin-Miah, assistant associate headteacher at Swanlea, said: "It’s a very lengthy trial period, isn’t it?"
Both Bergin-Miah and Miah said that having the resources to provide staff with mental health training, as well as appoint a mental health lead, had proved hugely successful in their school.
"It’s given us the confidence to encourage children to start speaking out," Miah said.
Bergin-Miah was particularly positive about the role of mental health support teams, which had helped pupils with a range of difficulties from anxiety to psychosis get treatment via CAMHS. "Now we have a key link person to give us advice and guidance," she said. "Overall the communication and recognition that we need to be more open with each other has been really useful."
But the teachers were also concerned that because it wouldn't be compulsory for schools to offer mental health training, many might not consider it necessary and children would miss out on initiatives that have had a positive impact at Swanlea.
"We’re really lucky that we have a headteacher who sees the value of emotional mental health," Miah added. "Not every school does. We’re in a climate where people are thinking about grades, accountability, and things like that."
Jonny Benjamin, who runs the ThinkWell programme providing mental health training in schools, said that he regularly encounters dismissive attitudes among staff and students.
"It needs to be compulsory. I was in a school just last week where they were saying they’ve got teachers who just don’t want to take on mental health at all," Benjamin told BuzzFeed News. "I’ve met teachers who say mental health issues should be dealt with by the child’s family, and that they’ve got enough to do with the curriculum."
He was also critical of discussions around mental health being rolled into PSHE sessions, which students have told him they consider a "doss", rather than into their regular timetable. "It seems like a wasted opportunity," he said.
Greatly welcome children's #mentalhealth #greenpaper @DHgovuk @educationgovuk & its future plans-but what about RIG… https://t.co/TfGP0DHfEC
While Benjamin said he believed the government's proposals "look good on paper", he was sceptical about its commitment to fully addressing the issue of mental health for all young people over a long period of time.
"It's just so gradual," he continued. "What about right now? CAMHS is in real crisis.
"The last few months I’ve been going around schools and colleges and universities, and everywhere you go they say 'We can’t get the help we need for our pupils.'
"There’s a year to 18-month waiting list for services, so there’s a backlog that we need to clear first of all. You can’t suddenly prioritise the new cases coming through when there’s still a backlog of people urgently needing help."
Luciana Berger, the president of Labour's campaign for mental health, was also critical of the proposals. "It is disappointing that the plan seeks only to reach a fifth of schools by 2022/23," she told us.
"There is nothing in the green paper that will actually prevent children from developing mental ill health in the first place. The money announced won’t scratch the surface of the crisis that young people’s mental health services face today. It is unclear how exactly these commitments will amount to any meaningful change for the next generation."
Jodie Goodacre, a 22-year-old ambassador for the mental health campaign Time to Change, told BuzzFeed News: "At the end of the day it will cost lives because people are reaching crisis point when they haven’t had the support and help they’ve needed."
Goodacre said she received no support from her school when she presented with signs of an anxiety disorder at the ages of 8, 12, and 16. She believes if teachers had been better equipped to identify and address the issue, her condition may not have escalated to such an extent that she was often unable to leave the house during her secondary school years.
"I remember going through the school nurse during exam time saying I was struggling with anxiety, and asking how to manage it, but she just said it’s normal to feel that way in exams and sent me on my way," she said.
Though the Department of Health has confirmed that the £300 million of funding allocated to pay for the proposals is new money, rather than taken from existing mental health budgets, Berger believes it still falls short. "[It] will only act as a replacement for the pastoral support that schools have been forced to cut over the last few years," she said.
Dr Andrew Molodynski, mental health lead for the British Medical Association and consultant psychiatrist, welcomed the proposals – in particular the reduced waiting times – noting it has been "very difficult" your young people to access mental health services.
He said it was vital that sufficient funding was received by NHS services in order to support children and young people identified by their schools as having mental health needs.
"Early intervention and prevention are crucial steps to improving mental health outcomes," Molodynski said.
“However, demand on mental health services continues to increase and success is dependent on the government solving chronic staffing issues, ensuring child and adolescent mental healthcare can retain doctors, nurses and therapists and attract new trainees.
“The investment promised to mental health must make its way to frontline services to help provide the best quality care for patients if there is to be true ‘parity of esteem’ between physical and mental healthcare.”
Both education secretary Justine Greening and health secretary Jeremy Hunt remained confident that the proposals, which are subject to a consultation period before being implemented in 2019, will offer positive change for children's mental health.
"These ambitious new plans will work with schools to make sure this happens, as well as reducing waiting times for the most severe cases," Hunt said.
"There are great examples of schools and colleges across the country already playing a vital role in supporting students’ wellbeing and mental health," Greening added. "We want that kind of excellence to become the norm and these proposals will help deliver that by strengthening the links between schools and the experts who can give young people the support they need."