This week is ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ, and today Iโve written to the Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing at West Sussex County Council to highlight the urgent need for ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น-๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ in West Sussex and here’s why – ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ:
๐ฑ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ-๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐ in West Sussex often have suicidal thoughts, and ๐ญ๐ฎ% ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ (๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐กโ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก 2025).
๐ญ๐ฐ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ-๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐กโ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก 2025).
Emergency hospital admissions for self-harm among young people in West Sussex are higher than the England average, ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ (๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ด ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ 2023).
๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ who died by suicide had a prior history of self-harm (๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ข๐๐๐ก 2017)
Current Mental Health Support Team provision (โThought-Fullโ) only reaches around ๐ฒ๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐น๐, leaving many children without early support.
Iโve called on the Cabinet Member to ask Government to ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, so more children can access vital mental health support in schools before crises occur.
Childrenโs mental health is a community responsibility โ everyone deserves support, and we must ensure ๐ป๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐.