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A councillor said a constituent’s seven-year-old child had been waiting 18 months for an appointment with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) – with the prospect of another nine months still to go.

Situations like these were hard on the children and parents who were trying to do something to help children through the traumas they were going through, and the council had made some progress, but that seemed to have changed, said Coun Paul Bellenger (Lib Dem, Greetland and Stainland).

“It was quite shocking actually to hear some of the lengths of time that people were actually waiting,” he said.

A combination of higher demand brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of trained professionals has stalled progress helping children with mental health issues.

He outlined the case brought to him to a meeting of the full Calderdale Council.

“To me that’s unacceptable – what I’d like is some reassurance that we are still supporting CAHMS, we are still working hard to try and make improvements there and try and cut these waiting times down because I think it is unfair that children are having to wait, and the parents are having to wait, so long for their child to be seen for help and support,” said Coun Bellenger.

Leader of the council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) said Coun Bellenger was right to highlight the concerns which were issues Calderdale’s Health and Wellbeing Board and health partners were aware of.

“You are right there was good progress made prior to the pandemic in reducing waiting lists but also changing the way the service operated, so that when people were on the waiting list were offered other forms of support as well, and that continues.

“I do accept it is very likely the position has worsened and there have been a number of national reports that have highlighted that demand for children’s mental health services are growing and continue to grow as a result of the pandemic and we are going to see that continue,” he said.

Work would continue with partners to try and find ways to support people waiting for an assessment but another issue was also a factor.

'Unacceptable' waiting times for children in Calderdale to access support for mental health issues