The waiting list to see a mental health nurse at school is months’ long, says one teacher. Plus letters from Martin Bell of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, and Stephen Baron
As a secondary school teacher, sadly I am utterly unsurprised to read how many children are being treated for mental health problems in England (Record 420,000 children a month in England treated for mental health problems, 22 May).
While your article detailed several supposed causes of increased mental health problems among young people, it strikes me how little it addresses the glaring gap of mental health support and provision in schools. I’ve worked in four state secondary schools in England over the last decade, and in each one the waiting list for students to see an in-school mental health nurse – if there is one at all – has been months’ long. Students simply don’t bother turning to in-school services for help.
