AN additional £1 million is being invested in mental health services for children every year for the next five years in a landmark pledge to tackle problems within the stretched sector.

The cash injection is being put into creating a young people’s community eating disorder service which will see NHS specialist nurses visit and treat vulnerable patients in their own homes across the county.

Psychiatric services for children and adolescents have been criticised for putting lives in danger due to long waiting lists and poor access to emergency support.

The funding, made available from NHS England, hopes to cut the pressure on staff, promote early intervention and stop anorexic children needing to go to hospital.

Although the exact details are yet to be decided, the money will set up a Cumbria-based community eating disorder service, employing and training specialist nurses to visit children and provide them with the regular psychological and physical support they need.

In addition to the eating disorder service, the £5m investment will support improvements in the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Cumbria, particularly in providing out-of-hours help.

John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, has cautiously welcomed the investment.

He said: “A funding review of the mental health services for children and teenagers in Cumbria was long overdue and, as a result, many of our young people were being let down and left in a dreadful state."

The money has been awarded after Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and Cumbria County Council submitted a “children and young people’s emotional health and well-being transformation plan” to NHS England.

The eating disorder service will be commissioned and supported by Cumbria CCG and will run alongside other mental health services that are provided by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as part of their whole system approach.

The one-to-one eating disorder support provided by the specialist nurse will explore the child’s relationship with food and, in cases of anorexia and bulimia, address the root cause of their fear of eating and putting on weight.

It is hoped having more staff will ensure professionals spend more time with the patient and better guarantee a consistency in who the child sees is kept.

The scheme will also look at ways it can link in with other services, including third sector providers such as Self-harm Awareness for All Cumbria.