Ms Mary Nicholson:

I thank the committee. I watched some of the parents who gave evidence this morning and who spoke about their experiences. If that is not compelling, I do not know what is. What would be really good is if we heard from more young people, such as Ms Gallagher. This is about children and young people and hearing their voices in the process would be beneficial.

The ISPCC is the national child protection charity. We hear from children every day and we will base our evidence today on this. We have 1,000 contacts from children every day through our Childline service. Last year, we received more than 15,000 calls and 3,000 online contacts on mental health issues. These were on everything from self-harm to bullying to sexuality to identity. They are huge issues for children and young people. Very often we are a first port of call because we are a 24 hour listening service that is directly accessible to children and young people and available nationwide. Everything we will say will be based on what they tell us on a daily basis.

A big issue, which echoes what many people have already said, is excessive waiting lists. Young people and their parents seek support, but when they reach out this support is sometimes not available for 12 to 18 months. They and their parents call us and they are frustrated. They are at the end of their tether. They are trying to find something while they are waiting for the mental health service. This brings up something Mr. Jackson will speak about, which is the importance of prevention and early intervention. Not every child needs CAMHS. Many other services can be used to support children and young people, and if we get in there early it will stop some children from having to go to CAMHS, which will free up time and reduce waiting lists.

Children may have a dual diagnosis with mental health difficulties and addiction issues. One young person was told to come back at the age of 18 because there was no service for 17 year olds. Her father resorted to detoxing her himself in the house because no service was available and he was at the end of his tether. This was the only option available to him at that point. This is something we need to look at. The services should be needs-led and they should meet the needs of children and young people, wherever they are.

Ms Ahern spoke about the out of hours issue. A total of 75% of calls received by the ISPCC Childline service come through out of hours. People need support out of hours. Dr. Jeffrey Shannon's recent report on section 12 echoed this and found 75% of cases were out of hours. Not all of them were mental health cases by any means, but some of them certainly were. It indicates a need for services outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday. We know childhood and children's issues happen 24 hours a day seven days a week.

Hearing the voice of the child is important and people have spoken about this. The children we have spoken to have told us they do not feel listened to. They are frustrated their cases are discussed with their parents but the information is not shared with them. Children who are 16 or 17 years old can access medical care in their own right, but it is ambiguous as to whether the mental health aspect can be looked at in this regard.

Another issue is placing children in adult psychiatric units. Everybody here has said it, so I do not need to go into it again. Children should not have to head outside of the jurisdiction to get the support they need. We have seen a lot of this in recent years. The support should be here. There is a huge amount of expertise. Having to ship off to another country a child who is already vulnerable will exacerbate the situation.

What has come across to us through our support line and our face to face service is parents and carers do not know what to do. They are not supported. They are not sure how to support their young person, what the plan is and who to go to for help. We have a postcode lottery with regard to whether a CAMHS team happens to be in operation and is fully functioning. If this is the case, there have been very positive and good results, but if it is not, because there is not a full team, a child does not necessarily receive the service. If a child receives another service or is not bad enough for CAMHS, parents have expressed frustration that they must go down the private route because support is not available because they do not meet the criteria.

We need to address the waiting lists and consider the importance of prevention and early intervention. We must broaden the referral pathways so more than a GP can make a referral. We must ensure 24 hour support for children experiencing mental health difficulties. Their views must be heard and parents and caregivers need to be supported.