More than 1,000 children have gone to hospital after trying to injure or kill themselves

More than 1,000 children and teenagers have attended a Birmingham or Sandwell hospital after trying to injure or kill themselves over the past five years.

The figures, which include people aged 17 and under, were provided by health trusts covering Birmingham's hospitals, as well as Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich.

And they showed the "crisis in children’s mental health", according to Birmingham MP Liam Byrne.

He said: "We now face nothing less than a crisis in children's mental health services. The level of children's pain is simply outstripping investment in services to help.

"When over 1,000 children come to A&E having self-harmed or tried to take their own lives we know this is a crisis."

The Government says it is increasing funding for mental health services.

But Mr Byrne. Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, said funding for mental health is actually falling in parts of Birmingham.

Cash for mental health services fell from £100.5m to £96.5 million last year, in the area covered by Sandwell and West Midlands Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) - one of the NHS bodies responsible for commissioning health services.

And funding fell from £67.2 million to £65.9 million in the area served by Birmingham South and Central CCG.

Between, these two NHS bodies serve 700,000 people.

The figures were provided by House of Commons researchers, based on NHS data.

Cash for mental health rose last year in the area covered by Birmingham's third clinical commissioning group, called Birmingham Crosscity CCG.

And it also rose in Dudley, Walsall and Solihull.

Mr Byrne said his survey of parents in his constituency revealed that parents were struggling to access services for their children.

Of 50 parents his staff spoke to, half said they had tried to access mental health services on behalf of a child. Almost 90% of these – 21 out of 24 – experienced difficulties obtaining the services the needed.

Many parents highlighted social media as a possible cause of mental health issues.

Nationwide, the NHS spent £11.9 billion on mental health services in the 2017-18 financial year.

Health Minister Jackie Doyce-Price told the House of Commons last month: "The 2018 Budget confirmed that spend on mental health services will grow as a share of the overall NHS budget over the next five years."

Speaking in the House of Lords, Government Minister Baroness Manzoor said: "Mental health services will grow faster than the overall NHS budget, creating a new ring-fenced local investment fund worth at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24.

"In addition, the plan includes a new commitment that funding for children’s and young people’s mental health services will grow faster than both overall NHS funding and total mental health spending.

"This transformative investment will mean that by 2023-24 an extra 345,000 children and young people up to the age of 25 will receive mental health support via NHS-funded mental health services."

Children attending hospital following incidents of self-harm

Count of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances with an A&E patient group of self-harm, within the Birmingham area(NHS Birmingham South and Central CCG, NHS Birmingham CrossCity CCG,NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG) for patients aged between 0 and 17.