A new Universities UK report has shown that students are at risk of “slipping between the gaps” between the NHS and universities.
The report finds that there is a significant lack of co-ordination between the NHS and British Universities, who say they are at risk of “failing a generation” unless students get improved mental health care.
The most up-to-date figure shows that 146 students took their own lives in 2016.
At Bristol University there have been seven student suicides in the last 16 months and three sudden deaths in the last month alone.
The number of deaths in 2016 has grown from the 134 recorded suicides the year before, which was then the highest figure since 2006. An NHS official has now said that local services must collaborate with the education institutions to prevent the number from growing further.
Over the past five years 94% of universities reported a “sharp increase” in the number of people attempting to access mental health support services. Universities UK have also stated that for some the increase was three-fold.
The report has also found that data was not shared between the universities and the local services, meaning information on the students was incomplete, or inadequate to provide the appropriate care.
Universities UK Head of Mental Health, Professor Steve West, believes the system must be “radically changed”.
“If we ignore it we will have failed a generation. We will be setting ourselves up for huge costs and burdens on the NHS, but more than that we will be destroying lives,” he said.
The National Union of Students (NUS) have said that the mental health services at universities is “at times non-existent” and at best, “strained”.
“A joined-up and coherent approach between the NHS and universities is exactly what students need,” they added.
JOE visited Bristol University to meet the barber helping students talk about how they feel:
