A mother has complained about failings in mental health support.

Her autistic 15-year-old son was excluded from his mainstream school in Brighton in 2015 when he was in Year 8 and she has paid for him to be home schooled since then due to a long wait for a formal diagnosis.

Brighton and Hove Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has now diagnosed him and his Year 11 tutoring will be paid for. 

But the mother said: “My son has missed out on long-term support, medication and a stable education placement for three years because of the failings of the system. 

“There is a vital need to speak up about this before the cutbacks and lack of funding from our current Government leads to serious harm coming to East Sussex children, including my son.”

A spokesman for Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “To diagnose a young person with autistic spectrum condition requires a multi-disciplinary assessment process to take place, which commissioners of paediatric and CAMHS services in Sussex are currently reviewing to make the process clearer for families.

"Whilst there is a high level of demand upon CAMHS across the country, we always endeavour to provide the most appropriate treatment and support for the young people that we work with.”