Munira Wilson, MP for Twickenham, claims CAMHS is 'not fit for purpose' due to long waiting lists and underfunding.

The Education spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats expressed her alarm at the state of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and that it was at a crisis.

When she first came into her Twickenham seat after the 2019 election, Ms Wilson said she was "alarmed" at the number of emails and "horror stories" she received from "dismayed parents" detailing their child's mental health issues and problems with the service.   

Ms Wilson said: "There was a huge need that was not being met and that was exacerbated by the pandemic."  

The number of children with probable mental health disorders rose from one in nine in 2017, to one in six children in 2021. 

In her keynote speech at the Lib Dem Conference, Ms Munira announced the party's plan to provide a qualified Mental Health practitioner in schools.  

She said: "For the teenagers struggling with social media or their body image, a mental health professional in every school, funded by taxing social media giants." 

Under the party's plans, the Government would fund a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in each of England's 22,000 state-funded schools.  

The money would be raised by trebling the Digital Services Tax, paid by social media companies and search engines, from 2% of a company's revenues to 6%. 

Speaking anecdotally, Ms Wilson told Nub News a seven-year-old child being restrained at a primary school in her constituency after a mental health episode. The child was later excluded on a fixed term basis, leaving a single mother to cope. 

Another seven-year-old had waited 16 months for a mental health assessment, intensifying their mental distress, only to be told they had to wait another year. 

Ms Wilson stressed the importance of early intervention for providing children mental health support, despite these services frequently stripped back in school budget cuts. 

The news follows recent revelations that ministers plan to move 23 doctor training posts in child and adolescent psychiatry from London to other parts of the country by 2030/31. 

Ms Wilson argued it was "nonsensical" and "deprived" London of much needed mental health professionals.  

Acknowledging that mental health issues were approached on a regional basis according to Integrated Health Care Systems, causing disproportionate amount of spending, Ms Wilson argued mental health professional in every school would help combat this. 

She added that extracurricular activities were also important for supporting children wellbeing.  

Speaking at the Lib Dem conference in September, Ms Wilson said: "School trips, music lessons, sports teams and coding clubs all broaden children's horizons. Yet they are the first to be scrapped when school budgets are squeezed." 

Ms Wilson maintained governments need to invest in education to invest in children's futures.