A father has reached 30,000 signatures on his petition calling for an inquiry into national mental health services for young people, but says it is still not enough.
Tom Tunney, a father-of-two from Thatcham, is seeking a Government response into the waiting times currently being experienced by families waiting for mental health treatment for their children, which he says is unacceptable.
Tom Tunney is trying to reach 100,000 signatures on his petition calling for an inquest into CAMHS waiting times
He made the choice to start the petition following a nearly two-year wait for his child to be given support by the NHS child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS).
“There needs to be earlier intervention,” he said. “There’s no communication where you are on the waiting list, it’s like you’re waiting on the unknown.”
Mr Tunney is seeking an inquiry as he says it would “show where the failures are and where children are losing their lives from this”.
Newbury MP Lee Dillon has said: “Families across Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and West Berkshire are facing unacceptably long waits for children’s mental health support, and this petition highlights what too many parents already know – the current system is failing young people.
Newbury MP Lee Dillon (pic courtesy UK Parliament)
“This petition sets out clear evidence of long delays, postcode‑based inequalities in access to care, and the knock‑on impact on school attendance and EHCP provision.
“The Government’s own response acknowledges that children and young people face long waits, variable quality of care and persistent inequalities, even though it has no current plans to launch an inquiry.
“That position is deeply disappointing.
“Given the scale of local and national concern, including cases where children have waited years for support, it’s clear that an independent inquiry is needed to fully understand the failures across CAMHS and ensure meaningful improvements.
“I have already raised this issue in Parliament through Written Questions and will continue pressing ministers for urgent action.
“Every child deserves timely, high‑quality mental health care, and I will continue working with families, schools, and health leaders to push for the system our children need and deserve.”
The petition as of Friday 13 January has reached over 30,000 signatures
Mr Tunney would like to see the mental health service reformed, resulting in shorter waiting times and suitable advice given to individual families rather than referring them to general advice on CAMHS’ website.
As well as this, Mr Tunney is calling for slower discharges for mental health-related patients and resolutions for autism treatment rather than a sign-off once diagnosed.
He is urging people to sign the petition until it reaches 100,000 signatures, which would mean it gets considered for debate in Parliament.
Mr Tunney said: “Our children’s school years are supposed to set them up for life, but if they are kept waiting for two years for help it greatly damages both their mental health and their chances.
“Instead parents basically have to take on the full-time job of navigating the legal system and advocating for the support their child needs.”
Mr Tunney has received support from Chris Coghlan, MP for Dorking and Horley, who has shared the petition with his constituents.
Chris Coghlan, Lib Dem MP for Dorking and Horley has shown support for the petition. Picture: Parliament UK
He said: “NHS children’s mental health is in crisis.
Families are left to fend for themselves, and children are unable to attend school – robbing them of an education.
“This petition should be brought forward to debate severe delays in CAHMS in Parliament.”
He says there is also a large gap in the provision of mental health medication (most commonly SSRIs) as GPs have told patients they are not qualified to prescribe them.
SSRIs are a type of anti-depressants mainly used to treat the symptoms of depression, as well as other conditions.
“It’s a postcode lottery as to whether you get prescribed them.” he said.
Mr Tunney, a concerned parent from Thatcham, says “fighting for this is like it’s a full time job.”
The Government replied to Mr Tunney’s petition on December 19 last year, saying it had “no current plans to establish an inquiry”.
The statement said: “Multiple actions are in place to improve and reform NHS mental health services and provide children with timely access to appropriate care.”
However, Mr Tunney says the response is not good enough.
“It [the Government plans] all talks about things too far in the future, not those going through it right now whose lives may have already been affected by it; it doesn’t offer current solutions.”
“Please share it with everyone, every signature is going to save someone’s life.
“Behind every signature is a story of how a whole family is affected fighting for this like it’s a full time job.”
A spokesperson for NHS Berkshire said: “We recognise the strength of feeling reflected in the petition and understand how distressing long waits for children and young people’s mental health support can be for families.
“In West Berkshire, emotional wellbeing and mental health support is provided through a range of local services, including early help and prevention support, as well as specialist NHS CAMHS for children and young people with diagnosable mental health conditions.
“Reducing waiting times remains a key priority for the NHS and following focused quality improvement actions including more robust caseload management, introduction of a new job planning tool for clinicians and the development of new services, the average waiting time to receive initial help from Berkshire Healthcare CAMHS services in West Berkshire is now approximately seven weeks.
“Decisions about a national inquiry into CAMHS sit with central government.
“Locally, the focus remains on improving access to timely, high-quality mental health support for children and young people.”
Since starting the petition, Mr Tunney has started a Facebook group to record other families experiences of mental health services, named ‘Stories of CAMHS’.
The link to the Facebook
page and petition can be found
here.