Content Warning: This article contains accounts of children and young people experiencing distress due to delayed access to vital mental and physical healthcare during the pandemic. It includes references to long waiting times for CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), self-harm, suicidal ideation, and descriptions of worsening chronic physical health conditions due to missed appointments and fear of hospitals.

As the Module 8 Children and Young People hearings of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry enter their fourth and final week, this article takes a look at evidence gathered directly from children and young people. The Inquiry's commissioned Children and Young People's Voices Research Project (Final Report by Verian, 2025) provides a stark look at the difficulties young people faced accessing crucial health services during the pandemic.

A note on age: The ages cited in the quotations throughout this report reflect the age of the child or young person at the time of the interview (March to November 2024), not their age during the main period of the pandemic (2020-2021) (p.195). Thus, a participant quoted as "Aged 14" would have typically been 10-12 during the initial lockdowns, offering a retrospective view of their experiences.

For students studying Level 3 Health and Social Care, these findings illustrate key concepts regarding barriers to accessing care, the direct link between factors affecting wellbeing, and the exacerbation of health inequalities during a national crisis.

Mental Health Services: Increased Need, Extended Delays

The pandemic significantly impacted the mental wellbeing of many children and young people (CYP) (p.195), leading to increased demand for support that the system struggled to meet.

• Reasons for contact: CYP sought help for existing conditions like anxiety, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders (p.196), which the pandemic often exacerbated. Others developed new mental health challenges driven by pandemic-specific factors, including isolation, fear of COVID-19 transmission to family, and tension at home (p.196).
• Barriers to access (delays): The most common experience was one of significant delay (p.196), a critical barrier to care.
  • Delayed assessments and diagnosis: Young people reported severe delays in receiving initial assessments and diagnoses for both mental health and neurodivergent conditions (p.196). One young person noted, "Ever since, like, the pandemic, everything that has a waiting list is just so delayed and it affects it now" (Aged 21, p.197).
  • CAMHS waiting lists: There were perceived longer wait times for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) (p.196). One young person described a six-month wait for ongoing support after a suicide attempt (Aged 21, p.197), despite it being a crisis case.
  • Difficulty with GPs: Long telephone wait times and the feeling of helplessness when trying to secure a GP referral were common (Aged 22, p.197).

The Challenge of Remote Therapy

The necessary shift from face-to-face to online or telephone sessions created a new set of emotional and practical barriers for many CYP accessing vital talking therapies (p.198).

• Loss of connection and privacy: Most young people held negative views on the transition (p.198). They found online sessions impersonal and less effective, making it hard to speak openly or connect with their therapist (p.198).
• The adultification of care: Some CYP felt that support became more parent-led during online sessions (p.198), which they disliked, feeling their own voice was lost: "It was just really them talking at my mum rather than me... I just didn’t really get a word in" (Aged 19, p.198).
• Positive experiences: Conversely, some children and young people felt more comfortable being at home in a familiar environment and appreciated the flexibility of online support (Aged 15, p.199).

Impact on Physical Healthcare and Health Inequalities

Delays in physical healthcare exposed how the pandemic amplified health inequalities, particularly for those with existing long-term conditions (p.199).

• Delays in treatment and diagnosis: Pressures on the NHS caused delays in treatments, check-ups, and procedures (p.199). This was acutely felt by physically disabled children and young people (p.199).
  • One young person with scoliosis missed regular X-rays and brace fittings during a growth spurt due to the pandemic, which she felt caused her condition to worsen faster and left her in "a lot of pain" (Aged 18, p.200).
  • Delays also affected routine but vital appointments, such as getting braces (Aged 19, p.199) or annual heart condition reviews (Aged 14, p.200), causing worry.
• Fear as a barrier to access: Fear of catching COVID-19, shared by both patients and health professionals, prevented CYP from accessing care (p.201). One young person couldn't access necessary medication for a bone condition because hospital tests were deemed too risky by medical staff (Aged 19, p.201), leaving her in pain.
• Exclusion for vulnerable groups: A parent of a severely disabled child was advised not to take her son to the hospital due to COVID risks, only to later face a safeguarding concern for not seeking a check-up (Parent of young person aged 21, p.202). This highlights how vulnerabilities were compounded.
• Hospital admission restrictions: For young people, especially those who had just turned 18, being admitted to hospital without visitors or parental support was made more challenging, confusing, and "weird" (p.202-203). The sudden restrictions meant they had to deal with complex health discussions alone, sometimes not understanding "half of what the doctors were saying" (Aged 22, p.203). A 10-year-old child admitted to hospital found the experience "scary" due to restrictions on seeing her siblings (p.202).

Concluding Links to Level 3 Learning

The experience of CYP during the pandemic underscores essential Level 3 learning points:

1. Factors affecting wellbeing: Isolation, fear, and family stress directly compromised mental health, illustrating the holistic nature of wellbeing.
2. Barriers to care: The findings clearly demonstrate systematic barriers: long waiting lists, lack of privacy, poor communication, and service inconsistency.
3. Health inequalities: Those with pre-existing physical or mental health conditions (the vulnerable and disabled) suffered the most severe consequences from delays, highlighting how health crises disproportionately affect those already facing disadvantage.

Reference

Verian (2025). Children and Young People’s Voices (Final Report). Commissioned by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Available at: https://covid19.public-inquiry.