Luciana Berger MP, Labour’s Shadow Public Health Minster, responding to a rise in under-18s with mental health problems in England being treated on adult psychiatric wards, said:

“These figures reveal a mental health service suffering from repeated Government budget cuts. David Cameron axed thousands of mental health beds and wards are operating beyond safe occupancy levels.

“When they most need support, vulnerable young patients shouldn’t be sent hundreds of miles from home in search of a bed. It’s very distressing for them and their families.

“Ministers have a responsibility to ensure that mental health services are accessible. They claim to support parity of esteem between mental and physical health, but patients are being badly let down. Labour’s vision for a national health and care service has mental health at its heart, not relegated to the fringes.”

Ends