Estimated 162,000 children in North West who have suffered abuse let down by postcode lottery in mental health.



Local mental health plans fail to properly set out how they will care for children who have been abused or neglected

At least 162,000 children in the North West are estimated to live in areas with inadequate mental health plans

NSPCC calls for NHS bodies to urgently include children who have been abused in their mental health plans

More than 162,000 children in the North West* who have been abused or neglected are being let down by a postcode lottery in mental health, the NSPCC estimates.

The charity’s analysis of all local plans published by NHS commissioners in England - which set out how they will care for children’s mental health - showed 84 per cent fail to properly plan for the needs of children who have been abused or neglected.

The NSPCC is calling on these NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups to urgently include the needs of children who have suffered abuse in their strategies.

Research shows that children who have suffered abuse are twice as likely to develop clinical depression. But an estimated 1.2 million children in England who have suffered abuse or neglect are living in an area with inadequate plans for their mental health needs, or with no plan for their care whatsoever. Of these children, 162,623 are in the North West of England.

NSPCC Trustee and clinical psychologist Professor Tanya Byron said: “Failing to plan is planning to fail, and alarmingly most CCGs are setting themselves up to fail children who have already been through abuse and trauma.
“It is unacceptable that despite the huge number of children estimated to have been abused, and the known link between abuse and mental health problems, the vast majority of our health services do not have a proper strategy for how to take care of these children.

“CCGs need to urgently review and improve their plans so that they are fully prepared to help children when they need it most. And Government needs to hold CCGs to account to publish high quality plans in a timely fashion every year.”
The NSPCC analysed CCGs’ published mental health plans, known as Local Transformation Plans (LTPs), and gave each plan a traffic light rating based on how well it had factored in the needs of children who have been abused.

Six LTPs across the North West were given an amber rating – meaning plans had made some reference to the needs of children who have been abused, but were inadequately planning for their care. Eight made no reference whatsoever to the needs of children who have been abused, while three LTPs had not been refreshed by May 2017 when the NSPCC conducted its research and so have not been given a rating.

Government has stipulated that CCGs must update their plans annually, and the NSPCC is calling on all CCGs to include strategies for meeting the mental health needs of children who have been abused in their 2017-18 updated plans and all future plans.