NHS organisation accused of ‘choosing’ not to help private school kids

Conservative councillor Pauline Helliar-Symons made the extraordinary claim during a discussion about the mental health training that is offered to schools across Wokingham.

It comes after a report revealed that demand for crisis and eating disorder services increased during the first coronavirus lockdown and the self-harm rate among young people in Wokingham (aged 10 to 24) continues to rise.

Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) offers training to schools to improve their understanding of mental health issues and teach them how to help children who are struggling, as part of a programme called PEPCare.

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The NHS organisation also offers training to certain members of school staff, so they can help pupils with specific conditions, such as anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Andy Fitton, assistant director of Berkshire West CCG, said: “We can’t make schools do it. We offer it and we are working hard to make that offer to all schools. ”

Cllr Helliar-Symons said: “A lot of children are in private schools and they also have mental problems, but they don’t necessarily have the same sort of access to support that children in state schools do.

“Andy, will you be offering the training to teachers in private schools as well?”

Mr Fritton said private schools are provided with the training if they request it, but it is not routinely offered to those schools because it is “a limited service in time and capacity”.

'So we’re choosing which children to help then?'

“When schools have asked, we have actually offered that,” he added.

Cllr Helliar-Symons said Berkshire West CCG could write to every private school and offer the mental health training, but Mr Fritton said that “is not something we’ve had the capacity to do”.

“So we’re choosing which children to help then?” said Cllr Helliar-Symons.

Mr Fritton said: “Not at all, I think that’s an unfair characterisation of what I’ve said.

“Obviously, we will work with the people that want to work with us.”

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The comments came at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on November 5.

At the meeting, concerns were also raised about long waiting times for mental health assessments in Wokingham and Mr Fritton said it has been “incredibly difficult to meet the demand.”

A council report shows that, on average, young people struggling with anxiety and depression are waiting over three months to get assessed by the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Mr Fritton said: “You don’t need an assessment and a diagnosis to identify and work with the need of a child or young person in front of you.

“Parents feel like it (a diagnosis) is a barrier to getting help and we would argue it doesn’t have to be that way, there is help available while you are waiting for your assessment.”