Local MP, Lucy Allan has today written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Matthew Hancock MP, to raise her concerns about The Midlands Partnership Foundation management of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) services in the local area.
This comes after the MP was contacted by Telford residents needing help with CAMHS. After taking up their cases with the local health trust it has become apparent that the local CAMHS team are not able to offer any children’s mental health assessments due to staff shortages and no alternative is being proposed.
In her letter to the Health Secretary, Ms Allan asked him to investigate the CAMHS provision currently being offered in Telford and to advise her what can be done to improve the situation.
Lucy Allan said:
“This is of great concern to me and to the community in Telford who need to be able to access this vital service for their children.
“We are increasingly seeing mental health problems in children due to the rise of social media and bullying online. It is therefore crucial that the Midlands Partnership Foundation and the Health Ministers provide a solution to ensure that adequate services are on offer.
“The very least that can be done in the event of staff shortages is to find an alternative assessment centre. It’s wholly unacceptable to fail to provide any assessments.”
