1,000 signatures reached
To: Stephen Twigg MP for
Increase in beds in children's mental units
Increase the funding needed for available beds in children's mental health units
Why is this important?
There is a young 8 year old boy called Jack who was admitted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital on the 25th October 2017, SEVEN WEEKS AGO. Jack lives with autism and has mental health issues; extreme low self-esteem, suicidal.
Jack has recently had a severe mental breakdown - hence the stay at Alder Hey Hospital.
Jack was assessed as a tier 4 and has been waiting in hospital for a bed to come available in a children’s unit, for SEVEN WEEKS. Jack or his family have been offered no support from CAMHS in the past seven weeks. This is the reason why;
Jack has been assessed by the Tier 4 team(in-patient CAMHS unit) and is waiting on an inpatient bed becoming available. This means they cannot work with Jack in his current environment (Alder hey hospital) only once allocated a bed within a unit, So, Jack does not fit the CRITERIA for tier 3 support (community), and can not access the tier 4 support until he is an inpatient in their unit.
It is imperative that NHS England fund more beds in children's mental health units to prevent this level of waiting time and the dangerous gap that exists between accessible support in a crisis.
