Children in Portsmouth facing a mental health crisis as thousands wait to be seen by professionals

Children's mental health charity YoungMinds said the figures are ‘harrowing’, especially as pupils receive grades for A-level and GCSE exams.

The charity said increasing pressure at school and the impact of lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic has affected young people's mental health, leading to a huge number of children needing support across England.

NHS Digital figures show 2,520 children and young people had at least one contact with mental health services in the NHS Portsmouth CCG area in the 12 months to May.

Though this was in line with April, it was a 17 per cent rise from 2,150 in July last year, when local figures were first recorded.

While the backlog of children in Portsmouth waiting to be seen by mental health professionals, after being referred by a GP, stood at 2,095.

YoungMinds said the figures paint a ‘shocking picture’ of the mental health of young people in the country.

Olly Parker, head of external affairs, said: ‘The pandemic has certainly deepened the crisis in young people’s mental health, with huge disruption to students’ education, many of whom were also dealing with multiple pressures like difficult home environments, bereavement and other trauma.’

The release of the figures come weeks after The News revealed thousands of children and young people had turned to a new mental health support website for help.

Launched in January 2021, Kooth has seen more than 10,800 logins from children as young as 11, with 2,003 registering on the free site.

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The Department for Health and Social Care said supporting children's mental health is a ‘major priority’ and that it invested £79m in 2021-22 to expand services to support more than 22,000 children and young people.

A spokesman added it is expanding mental health support teams to cover three million pupils by 2024 and is increasing investment in services by at least £2.3bn per year by 2024.

Mr Parker said: ‘The reality is that month after month we are seeing devastating new records of young people struggling to get treatment and support for their mental health, and month after month, we are left waiting for the Government to take action and end this intensifying crisis.’

:: For mental health support, see the NHS website here or text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258.