NHS missing money intended for investment in children’s mental health

NHS and mental health trusts in England have said that they haven't had any real investment into children's psychiatric services, despite the government saying it would do so.

Ministers had said that this section of the UK's health service would benefit from an extra investment of £143 million this year, reports the BBC.

However, the Mental Health Network has said that it believes the funding has been spent in other areas of the NHS, meaning the money is essentially missing from children's mental health services.

Initially, campaigners for this area of health had expected that £250 million would be available throughout this year as part of a £1.25 billion investment by the government that was intended to be rolled out over five years.

NHS England has outlined where the money has been spent saying that £75 million went to Clinical Commissioning Groups, £21 million was invested in health Education England and £12 million was given to an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme.

The other £35 million was split into five different areas, two of which were for children: £2 million on improving care for young people in the justice system and £1 million towards support for children with learning disabilities in long-term care.

Stephen Dalton, chief executive of the mental health network, which represents NHSproviders, said: "Providers of mental health services and most importantly children and families are struggling to see the difference."