In response, Dr Camilla Kingdon, President of RCPCH said:
There is a children and young people's mental health crisis in this country. This was the case before the start of the pandemic, and it has been exacerbated as a result. The committee's report highlights the awful but sadly unsurprising statistics that three years ago one in nine children had a diagnosable mental health condition, and by 2020 this grew to one in six children.
This is why today's report is so welcome. It is particularly encouraging to see a focus on the importance of mental health support in schools, the need for more regular and robust data collection, and of the need to take a whole system approach to early intervention, while embedding prevention and enhancing community care.
At the same time mental health services for children and young people need adequate resourcing and the country needs a robust and evidence based workforce plan for the child health workforce, which includes provision for mental health services.
The negative impacts of the pandemic have disproportionately impacted children and young people, especially those from the most deprived backgrounds. Government action to address these issues impacting children and young people's mental health is sorely needed.