Fiona
Bruce MP calls on Government to ring-fence funding for children’s mental health
services
In
a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, Fiona Bruce has
called on the Government to ring-fence funds it allocates for child mental
health support services.
Fiona Bruce who is Patron
of Visyon met this week with Gervase McGrath, CEO of Visyon, and said
“Ring
fencing would ensure when Government announces that additional funds are being
allocated to support child mental health services, they really are extra to
existing budgets when locally distributed and achieve their aim”.
Speaking after their
meeting Gervase McGrath said
“In Autumn 2015 Fiona and
I attended a seminar in the House of Lords consulting with young people on
changes to children’s mental health services.
What we heard there gave us real cause for optimism that things were
about to get better. Sadly the competing
financial pressures on local health services have prevented all of the money
going to where it was intended. I join
Fiona in calling on the Government to ring fence this money to ensure that this
initiative is successful in changing the outlook for the many children and
families struggling to access the support they so badly need”.
Fiona Bruce added “If
Government refers to funds as additional then this should mean just that.”
“There is a pressing need
in this area for this additional funding with increasing numbers of children as
young as 4 needing such help and it is vital that the excellent work of Visyon
and other organisations providing this help are properly resourced. In addition, as mentioned in a report
recommending Family Hubs in local communities which I released last week, greater
focus should also be put on helping parents to build strong and enduring family
relationships, since, as Gervase and I discussed, this would help prevent many
of the problems affecting children’s mental health which stem from chaotic,
unstable and insecure relationships”.
