Schools need to work more closely with health services to support young people with mental health conditions, an MP has said.

St Albans MP Anne Main said in a speech in the House of Commons: “It is sadly the case that many young people have very troubled existences in school and it sometimes takes quite a long while to get a diagnosis that they are suffering from mental health problems.”

Mrs Main suggested to health secretary Jeremy Hunt that child mental health services should be “seamlessly integrated” into schools.

She said: “Parents who come to visit my surgery tell me that too often there are two silos where they are raising the same issues and problems - the school system and the child mental health services system - and they are having to do so over and over again because there is no transference of knowledge about the individual’s case.

“If a young person’s opportunities to gain educational qualifications are slipping away, we need to address that.”