Concern over children's mental health in Sunderland - and 'significant challenges' services face

It comes after a presentation from regional health chiefs on how demand for such services continues to outpace pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels, impacting access standards.

Bosses from North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), which develops NHS services, said they continue working with providers to improve pathways and handoffs between services.

This has included holding workshops to help build relationships between organisations to provide support in the city.

Speaking at the latest meeting of Sunderland City Council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee, councillor Beth Jones questioned whether cases coming through now are more “complex in nature”.

The Washington Central ward representative added: “I know that there were significant challenges with children and young people’s mental health even before the pandemic.”

Cllr Jones, who has been a registered mental health nurse for 20 years in the NHS, also highlighted the importance of mental health support teams working with schools and the need for early intervention and prevention work.

Scott Watson, director of place for Sunderland on the ICB, said: “The conversations I’ve had with colleagues, certainly they are seeing more complex referrals.

“They are seeing referrals perhaps of a nature that they didn’t see pre-pandemic linked to some of the isolation and different things that had gone on.

“We haven’t done any deep dives into the evidence base around all of that but certainly that’s what we’re hearing, and we’re seeing more through schools.”

He added plans are also in place to roll out more mental health support teams, who will work with organisations such as schools, over the next 18 months.

A presentation to councillors on the committee noted that although performance “remains challenging” additional funding from health chiefs has been identified to recruit more staff.

Social prescribing measures are also in place to support children and young people on the waiting list, while further additional funding has been earmarked for counselling services to help reduce the backlog.

Local authority officers added their public health team is working with local charity Washington Mind to look at delivering bespoke sessions for councillors around mental health training.

Councillors also heard in January they will receive an update on the wider mental health strategy for the area.