Children and young people in Hounslow had to wait an average of 39 days for a follow-up appointment after their initial mental health referral, new analysis shows.

This compares to 20 days for a second appointment in neighbouring Ealing.

The data comes from the Children's Commissioner's report on the state of children mental health services, which showed how Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in west London ranked low in data across 190 providers across the country.

In the findings published last month, CCGs were given a score out of 25, based on key indicators.

These were the percentage of the CCG's budget spent on children and young people's mental health, mental health spend per child, the percentage of children and young people in contact with mental services, the average waiting time for services, and the percentage of mental referrals closed before treatment.

Hounslow scored 13 out of 25, while Ealing ranked lower with 11 out of 25.

Out of 190 CCGs included in the analysis, services scoring 13 or below were among the bottom 71 in the country.

The worst waiting time in the country was 87 days, recorded for NHS Fylde and Wyre CCG.

Reacting to the figures, Dr Onkar Sahota, the Greater London Authority member for Ealing and Hillingdon fears that the impact of the pandemic will have driven up demand for "already underperforming" mental health services.

He said: "We risk seriously letting young people down unless we give these services the support they need to get up to scratch.

"Lockdown and school closures have clearly taken their toll on many children, especially those stuck in cramped and overcrowded homes, temporary accommodation or abusive households.

"I want to see every young person in our borough able to access help when they need it, from services properly resourced by both CCGs and central government."

He is also backing calls from the former Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield, who left the post last month, to expand the rollout of mental health support teams for joint action between schools and the NHS.

Dr Sahota added: "The ramifications of childhood mental ill health can be long lasting and devastating, so investment in early intervention isn't just desirable, it's crucial. I want to see the government recognise that and scale-up mental health support for children and young people".

A spokesperson for North West London Health and Care Partnership said: "Access to community CAMHS services has improved over the past 12 months in line with the national standard set out by the NHS Long Term Plan.

"The CCG's investment into children and young people's mental health services has also increased in line with the expectations outlined by NHS England & NHS Improvement.

"This will go some way to address the rising demand for services as a result of Covid-19 as well as existing inequalities in access and outcomes, in order to improve services for children and young people.

"In addition, the CCGs are optimistic that funding awarded for their successful Mental Health Support Teams in Schools bid will go some way to ensure that schools have a bigger role in early intervention for children and young people's mental health."

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