Action promised after Peterborough pupils lay bare mental health struggles

Young people from several city schools came together for a virtual mental health summit which was attended by MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow and Kathryn Goose, commissioning manager for children and young people’s mental health at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The lengthy discussion highlighted flaws in the current system and the heavy toll Covid has taken on pupils, but it also prompted optimism after promises to work together to improve services going forward.

Among the points raised was that many young people did not know how to access support, while those who did seek help often found themselves facing lengthy waiting lists for assessments.

It was claimed that the local CCG is under-funded and is one of the 12 worst performing in the country for mental health waiting times, while there were poignant stories of youngsters battling suicidal thoughts and loneliness.

The meeting was organised by Peterborough Citizens UK and chaired by pupils from Ormiston Bushfield Academy.

It featured testimony from learners at The King’s School, Thomas Deacon Academy, St John Fisher Catholic High School and The Peterborough School who have formed a mental health action team to try and improve services.

Speaking during Monday’s Zoom conference, one co-chair said: “We all believe there is room for improvement and we won’t suffer in silence.

“We believe together we will be able to implement the change and improvement in Peterborough that it deserves.”

A fellow co-chair added: “As someone who has struggled with their mental health for six years I’m extremely proud to see so many people gathered together to encourage change within our community.”

A presentation during the meeting from two pupils highlighted “prominent gaps” in current services.

They said that in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough there are 34,000 people with a diagnosable mental health disorder, with 35 per cent of those based in Peterborough.

Despite this, they said there were long waiting times to speak to someone and limited advertising for mental health services in the city, with many services solely catering for extreme cases like people at the point of suicide.

The problem is only set to get worse due to the pandemic, they added.

Among those to share their views was one pupil from TDA, who said: “Many of us have mental health problems but don’t know where to go. We have friends suffering around us and many are suffering ourselves, but we don’t know the direction to go to for help.”

He said of 66 people who took part in a recent survey, more than half (55.5 per cent) had little to no idea of where to go if they were suffering, while he also noted that there was a “lack of confidence with the services provided”.

He added: “The reason I feel so strongly about this is I’ve struggled supporting my friends in the past. And I myself have no experience of this so had no guidance. A person came out of their comfort zone to seek help and I couldn’t provide it, making it worse for them.”

A pupil from The Peterborough School shared testimony from a 14-year-old pupil who had found the entire process “overwhelming” and did not go further than the initial assessment.

The pupil also did not feel her concerns had been listened to as the majority of the session was said to have been focused on her parents.

It was added: “I’m starting to wonder if the whole system needs to be reviewed.”

A pupil from King’s said out of 331 responses to a survey carried out at the school, the percentage of those who found their mental health was poor had risen from 15.6 per cent pre-Covid to 43.7 per cent.

A majority (62.8 per cent) also said being back at school was a positive for their mental health, although more than half (59.4 per cent) did not feel there was enough support in schools for mental health.

Prominent issues included huge fears over exams and loss of friendships and activities outside of school, with some feeling suicidal and hopeless as a result.

One pupil who lost a loved one due to Covid also said being away from school had made the grieving process much harder.

It was said: “The pandemic has put a huge strain on many young people who were already struggling with their mental health because of self-isolation, a loss of routine and a breakdown in formal and informal support.

“The constant closing and re-opening of schools has caused uncertainty and anxiety amongst adolescents, hence affecting their mental health.”

Responding to the points raised, Ms Goose agreed that the voices of young people needed to be heard as she promised to set up a working group to look at how to make improvements.

She said: “About five years ago across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough we set up a website called Keep Your Head. The principle of this was for young people to find out about and access information.

“However, what we have identified over time is that this is a website which has been used very much by professionals, and we had a meeting last week about how we do we get it more user friendly and ensure young people can know what’s out there.

“I’m not a young person, so your voice in telling us how you want that information structured. We would very much welcome you helping us make it usable and how we can promote it. I think we have a basis there, but listening to you I don’t think it’s as well known as we want it to be.”

She also said the impact of young people not going to school during lockdown had not been properly assessed nationally and will continue for many years, adding: “The impact that Covid’s had on young people, I also have concerns about that. How we support young people as they transition into adult services is also really important.”

Mr Bristow praised the pupils and agreed that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is “not adequately funded”.

Promising to raise the issues highlighted during the summit with ministers, he added: “I don’t think the debate around Covid has focused enough on how we’re robbing a generation of a year of their lives and the impact that’s having on young people.”