Tom Tunney has set up an online petition in an effort to push the government to examine why “many children face long waits” when seeking mental health support from the NHS and the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
The petition, lodged on the official government portal, was launched in December and has already gathered more than 30,000 signatures.
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Tom told the Chronicle he was motivated by his personal experience of being left “in limbo” when the family sought support for their daughter several years ago.
The 44-year-old dad said he has no criticisms for the mental health support families finally receive when they reach the top of the waiting list, but “it’s the getting there that is the problem”.
He pointed to the uncertainty created by long delays: “I guess it’s just a fact of not knowing where you are on the waiting list, and the waiting exacerbates any mental health problems because you are just sat in limbo, you don’t know when help is coming both for the parents and for the child.”
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The government responded to Tom’s petition on December 19, emphasising that it has “no current plans to establish an enquiry”.
The official response acknowledged deteriorating mental health across the nation, and admitted a previous investigation has already revealed how people seeking mental health support through the NHS “face long waits” and “persistent inequalities” in the quality of care received.
But the government insisted “progress is already being made”, pointing to various government initiatives including recruitment of more mental health workers, investment into mental health research programmes, and plans to open youth community centres that it hopes will promote “positive outcomes” for young people.
Tom told the Chronicle he doesn’t feel the response really addresses his concerns, arguing the various initiatives mentioned fail to help “children or parents going through it now”.
“[It] gives them no assistance, gives them no way out.”
The Thatcham father suggested if the government has real plans to overhaul the children’s mental health system then they should be “more vocal about it because it would be a massive positive change”.
But their response to his petition so far “just pushes it down the road, they need to come up with some immediate help”.
If a petition reaches 100,000 signatures within six months, the government’s own rules mean it will have to consider it for debate in Parliament.
Tom told the Chronicle he thinks it is “achievable” for his petition to hit the required number of signatures before it reaches the six month deadline on June 3.
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The 44-year-old works as a technical specialist for an audio rental company and said the whole process of lobbying for the inquiry has been “quite relentless”.
He has also set a special Facebook group, Stories of CAMHS, to help raise awareness around the issue and encourage other families to share their stories with the hashtag #fixtheHinHCPs.
Hearing the experiences other families have gone through has been sad, Tom said, but it is also reassuring to see that he is not alone.
He hopes his petition will encourage the government to give CAMHS more resources.