Spending on mental heath services for children in Ealing is lower than anywhere in west London and among the lowest in England, new figures suggest.

A report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) claims Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will spend £6.39 per head on child and adolescent mental health services for the 2016/17 financial year.

The figure would make it the third lowest in London, behind Enfield (£2.33) and Tower Hamlets (£4.45), and the fifth lowest in England - with Luton CCG lowest (£2.01).

By contrast the report claims Hammersmith and Fulham CCG is spending more than £50 per head, Brent CCG £33.43 and Harrow CCG £26.92.

Hillingdon CCG is spending £20.66, Hounslow CCG £11.55, West London CCG £9.17 and Central London (Westminster) CCG's spend £7.56, the report adds.

A spokesman for children's charity NSPCC said: "It is a sad state of affairs if vulnerable children and young people are subjected to a postcode lottery when it comes to getting mental health support.

"It’s really concerning that some areas of the country will only spend a fraction on mental health services for children and young people compared to what other’s will spend elsewhere.

"It should go without saying that children and young people should be able to get proper support for mental health conditions regardless of where they live."

According to RCP, the figures were obtained from the Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard, published by the NHS on October 27.

RCP said it analysed how much each CCG was spending and then calculated how much was being spent per head using population figures.

Figures do not include learning disabilities and eating disorders, it added.

A spokesman for Ealing CCG, who claimed the figures fall short of how much it is spending, said: "It’s always difficult to make direct comparisons due to the way mental health services are funded, but we are confident that children and young people in Ealing are receiving a good service.

"However, over the next five years we are planning to increase spending on child and adolescent mental health services year on year and in 2016/17, we expect to spend £8.46 per head of population in 2016/17 on core services.

"Extra investment is likely to go into the out of hours and crisis services.

"The community eating disorder service has already been expanded and we are currently considering additional investment in preventative services.

"Ealing benefits from a wide range of children’s mental health services provided in settings such as schools, community locations and more clinic based settings.

"In addition Ealing CCG commissioned a community based perinatal mental health service in 2016 which helps to support children’s emotional healthand wellbeing from the earliest stage of life."

It is estimated by RCP that one in every 10 children aged between five and 16 has a diagnosable mental health disorder.

Children can call the NSPCC helpline on 0800 1111 and adults concerned about a child can call 0808 800 5000.

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