Herefordshire charity says mental health support 'important' for children
It's as the number of children referred to a mental health trust in Herefordshire and Worcestershire has more than doubled since 2019
The chief executive of a Herefordshire charity, which supports young people with their mental health, says it's important their concerns are listened to.
Data obtained and published by the Medical Negligence Assist via a Freedom of Information request last week, showed the number of children referred for mental health to the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has more than doubled since 2019.
They found more than 5,300 children have been referred to the trust in the last year alone, with the average waiting time for children from referral to first appointment at the trust being seven weeks, above the national average of five weeks.
In response, the trust said they are "working hard to reduce waiting times through recruitment initiatives."
Nick Dunster is from the CLD Trust in Hereford, who have been running in the area for 30 years, and he says it can be difficult during these months for people, so it's vital they feel as though they are being heard.
He said: "We see a lot of children who start to struggle with school at this time of year, so those children coming from a small primary school and going to a secondary school that could be a lot larger, they can struggle a bit for the first few weeks.
"There's lots of images about how perfect Christmas has got to be and how it's perfect family time as well, and for some children that isn't the case, so it kind of reminds them of how different they feel, and how their life isn't matching up with what they think their life should be.
"One of the most powerful bits of feedback we get is children saying I'm no longer alone and I don't feel like I'm the only one with this feeling, and that really helps them to move forward with their life and think, this is ok, I can manage and take control of some of my emotions."
Anxiety, depression and eating disorders were among the top referral reasons.