Source: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) published on this website Monday 27 October 2024 b Jill Powell
The report draws on inspection activity, findings from CQC’s national NHS patient survey programme and statutory reports, bespoke research into people’s experiences, insight from key stakeholders and evidence collected by the regulator throughout the year about the quality and safety of services in all areas of health and care.
Getting the right care, at the right time and in the right place is important for everyone. For children and young people, however, delays can have especially significant and lasting consequences. Some treatments and interventions are less effective if not administered at a specific age or developmental stage – and the opportunity to intervene can be missed completely if the wait for diagnosis is too long.
Many children and young people are not currently getting the support they need. This year’s State of Care report highlights this as a risk not just for today, but for the future. Children who do not receive the care they need today are at increased risk of becoming adults with long-term mental or physical illnesses, which could affect their quality of life and their ability to contribute to society tomorrow.
More broadly, timely access to good care continues to be a struggle for many, and inequalities in care persist. And issues getting access to services are often exacerbated by deprivation; in 2023/24, attendance rates for urgent and emergency care for people living in the most deprived areas of England were nearly double those for people in the least deprived areas. Analysis conducted for CQC showed that for people attending for mental health reasons, the difference was over three times higher for those in the most deprived areas.
The safety and quality of some services is not good enough. CQC’s review of maternity services shows that women and babies are still not receiving the high-quality maternity care they deserve, and women from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds continue to be more at risk of experiencing poor maternity care and outcomes.
Mental health services are also a cause for serious concern. Lack of resources, ageing estates and poorly designed facilities are affecting the safety of inpatient wards. CQC’s special review of the care provided by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also identified wider concerns around community mental health services, leading to recommendations to improve oversight and treatment of people with serious mental health issues.
CQC has particular concerns about children and young people’s mental health services, where demand continues to rise. In 2023, 1 in 5 children and young people between the ages of 8 and 25 were estimated to have a mental health disorder. While the mental health workforce has grown, problems with staffing and skill mix remain. Across the country, services are facing challenges in recruiting staff including nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, and consultant psychiatrists – all of which are having an impact on capacity, and therefore on the availability and regularity of appointments.
Mental health difficulties experienced as an adult often begin in childhood or young adulthood. Early intervention increases the prospects of good mental health in later life – but delayed or inadequate intervention decreases these chances.
