SICK CHILDREN TURNED AWAY

Thousands denied mental health treatment

- Keir Mudie and Geraldine McKelvie

MORE than a third of kids referred to mental health services were turned away last year, the Labour Party has revealed.

Around 73,000 out of 195,000 cases were closed before treatment started in the year 2020/21.

But Labour fears the true number could be far higher than that as just 22 of 45 mental health trusts responded to its Freedom of Information request.

Parents claim they cannot get help from the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for conditions such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

One mum told how she had to sell her house to pay for £30,000 of private treatment for her daughter, who had a breakdown aged nine.

Sam Lethbridge, 43, of Borehamwood, Herts, branded the NHS system “disjointed and broken”. She added: “We didn’t even get a phone call.”