NSPCC: Thousands of abuse victims being let down
Thousands of Midlands children who have been abused or neglected have been let down by a mental health postcode lottery, according to the NSPCC.
Bosses from the children's charity said a total of 233,000 in the region who have suffered abuse are being let down.
This includes 9,367 in Dudley, 16,788 in Sandwell and West Birmingham, 8,913 in Walsall and 31,115 in Staffordshire and Stoke.
The charity has analysed the plans published by NHS commissioners about children’s mental health.
And this showed 84 per cent across England fail to properly plan for those who have been abused or neglected.
Research shows that children who have suffered abuse are twice as likely to develop clinical depression.
But an estimated 233,000 children in the Midlands who have suffered abuse or neglect are living in an area with inadequate plans for their mental health needs, or with no plan for their care whatsoever.
Across England, the total is estimated at 1.2 million.
The NSPCC gave each CCG's plan a ranking according to a traffic light system.
Wolverhampton was given a green rating while all the other areas in the Black Country and Staffordshire were amber.
Chiefs have urged the latter CCGs to urgently include the needs of children who have suffered abuse in their strategies.
Trustee and clinical psychologist Professor Tanya Byron said: “Failing to plan is planning to fail, and alarmingly most CCGs are setting themselves up to fail children who have already been through abuse and trauma.
“It is unacceptable that despite the huge number of children estimated to have been abused, and the known link between abuse and mental health problems, the vast majority of our health services do not have a proper strategy for how to take care of these children.
"CCGs need to urgently review and improve their plans so that they are fully prepared to help children when they need it most.
"And Government needs to hold CCGs to account to publish high quality plans in a timely fashion every year.”
The NSPCC analysed CCGs’ published mental health plans, known as Local Transformation Plans, and gave each plan a traffic light rating based on how well it had factored in the needs of children who have been abused.
