Release time: 2024-10-29 15:43
Benefits of school counselling highlighted in Westminster debate
News from BACP
We briefed MPs on our campaign to ensure funding for a registered counsellor in every UK school as well as the need for Youth Future hubs ahead of a Westminster debate on mental health support, held on World Mental Health Day.
During the debate MPs from different parties acknowledged the widespread increase in the need for mental health support and how long waiting times are exacerbating people's distress.
Government manifesto commitment
Labour MP Sojan Joseph, who we met in advance of the debate, spent 22 years working in as a mental health nurse in the NHS. He used the debate to question the new Government’s progress towards their manifesto commitment to fund a specialist mental health professional in every school.
He asked if this commitment included access to counselling and cited our research saying:
“Children whose mental health difficulties are initially too complex for lower intensity interventions but not complex enough to be referred to higher intensity interventions, such as child and adolescent mental health services, can easily miss out on the mental health support they need. They could instead be helped by forms of provision such as counselling.”
He also requested an update on the Government’s plans for Youth Futures hubs for children and young people, an issue which BACP has additionally long campaigned on saying:
“These open-access drop-in hubs will be an important step in providing community-based mental health support for children and young people. Will he say something about the roll-out of those hubs?”
Cross party support
He enjoyed cross-party support with Helen Maguire, Liberal Democrat MP for Epsom and Ewell, speaking on the benefits of early intervention for young people saying:
“Too many people are simply suffering and too many lives are being lost, yet some of that is preventable. Early intervention and prevention are absolutely key. First, to ensure that our young people get the support they need before they reach crisis point, we need to equip them with the tools they need to build resilience to cope with modern life. We must ensure that no one feels alone in their mental health journey.”
Mark Ferguson, Labour MP for Gateshead Central and Whickham , drew attention to the recommendations of Lord Darzi’s report into the current state of the NHS published last month, saying:
“The surge in demand in respect of mental health needs in children and young people is not being met by community-based services, and Lord Darzi’s report found that after years of cuts the number of mental health nurses has only just returned to 2010 levels.
“That is why we need more support for children in their communities and schools, but without continuing to overstretch teachers. I welcome the Government’s commitment to roll out mental health counsellors in every school and mental health hubs in the community, to cut through the backlog and ensure accessible support.”
More support for children in the community
Responding on behalf of Government, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, Andrew Gwynne MP said:
"We are committed to reforming the NHS to ensure that we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. It is unacceptable that too many children, young people and adults do not receive the mental health- care that they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long.
"We are determined to change that, which is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across child and adolescent mental health services. We will also introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Youth Futures hubs."
Steve Mulligan, our Four Nations lead, who briefed MPs in advance of the debate, said:
"This debate provided an important opportunity, early in the tenure of this new Government, to highlight that counsellors and psychotherapists can and should play a central role to help deliver Labour's manifesto commitments to improve mental health support for all.
“As well as continuing to engage with Government to help shape their plans, we look forward to working with Sojan Joseph, and many of the new MPs who passionately spoke in the debate, to help us champion the talents of our members in delivering these important commitments to enhance the mental health response in education, health and community settings".
