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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/968/26348
From The Socialist newspaper, 25 October 2017
Kids wait 18 months for mental healthcare
Kick out cutters and profiteers
(Click to enlarge)
James Hunter, South Tyne and Wear Socialist Party
Children suffering from mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, have to wait up to 18 months after referral to access care.
Even then there are further waiting times before children finally receive treatment, indicates a condemning report by NHS watchdog CQC.
One in five are told they cannot be seen within a reasonable timeframe, according to Young Minds. This includes anorexic children in England, who can be a dangerously low weight before receiving referral.
Overstretched child and adolescent services force some families to seek out private healthcare in desperation.
Catastrophic
These catastrophic delays are caused by intentional, chronic underfunding and understaffing of the NHS, as well as privatisation through PFI schemes and vultures like Virgin Care.
Mental illnesses benefit from early intervention - a collaborative approach that seeks to act as soon as possible before the onset of irreversible damage. Austerity will no doubt have contributed to the spike in the number of children self-harming.
The number of young people admitted to A&E with a psychiatric condition has more than doubled since the Conservatives took power in 2010. Record numbers now seek help from children's helplines over suicidal thoughts - up 15% from last year.
The Socialist Party says: kick out the bloodsuckers - scrap all PFIs! No more children to suffer for the sake of corporate profit and Tory greed!
Fund a fully nationalised health service, run under democratic workers' control and management, and free at the point of use. A socialist NHS could provide for everyone's needs at all times - no exceptions!
Discussions include: 'Can NHS privatisation be stopped before it's too late?'
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
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- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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In The Socialist 25 October 2017:
What we think
Socialists must back Catalan struggle for self-determination
Women
1967 Abortion Act reflected social changes
International socialist news and analysis
Kurdish referendum declared illegal
Socialist Party news and analysis
Universal Credit chaos: Tories punish the poor
Fearful Tories mull borrowing to build
Kids wait 18 months for mental healthcare
Profit-driven pesticide use now threatens life
Profiteering NHS counter-fraud firm in alleged case of... fraud
Workplace news and analysis
Aslef members must reject poor Southern Rail offer
Arriva North West bus drivers strike over pay
NSSN meeting brings together workers in struggle
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Hear from socialists involved in struggles the world over at the Socialism 2017 Saturday rally
Angry east London residents organise against threat to leisure centre
Trade unionists march to defend 650 local jobs
Storm Brian cannot withstand working-class anger
Socialist readers' comments and reviews
Well-deserved ridicule of Stalinism is impressive, funny but flawed
Film - Dennis Skinner: Nature of the Beast
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