Emergency referrals of children at risk of mental health in England are rising by 13% a year

The number of children being referred to mental health care in England has risen by 10% in a year, with long waiting lists for regular NHS care pushing past the bottleneck.

There were 34,793 emergency, very urgent or urgent interventions in child and young people’s mental health crisis teams between April and October 2024, official data analysis by mental health charity YoungMinds shows. found. That compares to 31,749 in the same six-month period in 2023.

Many children who need emergency care – some of whom are suicidal or seriously ill with eating disorders – sit on NHS waiting lists for months or, in the worst cases, several years .

The chief executive of YoungMinds, Laura Bunt, said the figures were worrying and showed that thousands of children needed urgent help to prevent them from becoming seriously ill.

“Early support can help prevent many young people from becoming ill, but instead their mental health deteriorates, leading them into trouble and sometimes young people’s lives are at risk,” he said. “This is an appalling fraud on young people and their mental health.”

He said system tweaks will no longer be enough to deal with the crisis. “We need major reforms that address the root causes of why so many young people are struggling. It should also be easy for young people to get help for their mental health when they need it. To make this happen, the government must urgently fulfill its promise to provide immediate support services to every community. ”

Analysis of the data showed that there were 4,424 new urgent bookings to mental health care teams between April and October 2024, up 13% from 3,912 in the same period last year.

There were 24,886 new urgent bookings in acute care units between April and October, up 13% from 22,045 in the same period last year. New emergency filings fell by 5% to 5,483.

Collectively, the figures show a 10% increase in fast, super-fast and sudden transfers by 2024, YoungMinds said.

Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ department of children and young people, Dr Elaine Lockhart, says the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of health problems and many other factors have had a major impact on children’s mental health in later years. like this.

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of young people with mental health problems because of this,” he said. “Mental health services help thousands of young people recover from mental illness every year. , but they are still struggling to cope with the rising demand due to the lack of staff and lack of resources. This contributes to long waiting lists and pushes young people into crisis before they can get the care they need. ”

Separate data reviewed by PA Media showed a 5% annual increase in hospital admissions related to the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia.

The Department of Health and Social Care has acknowledged that too many children and young people are waiting too long to get the mental health care they need. A spokesman said: “We will hire 8,500 more mental health workers, giving young people access to a mental health professional in every school and future center in every community. nothing.”