More children needing support for severe mental health crises

New NHS data shows a rise in the number of children across England needing specialist treatment for severe mental health crises.

Breaking down the data, which has been analysed by the charity YoungMinds, overall there were 24,886 new ‘urgent referrals’ to crisis care teams between April and October 2024, up 13 per cent from the same period the year before. In the same period there were also 4,424 new ‘very urgent referrals’ for under-18s to mental health crisis care teams between April 2024 and October 2024, up 13 per cent on a year earlier. The number of new ‘emergency referrals’ dropped slightly to 5,483, down 5 per cent compared to the same period the previous year. Despite that decrease, overall the figures show a 10 per cent rise in all NHS urgent and emergency care referrals across the period.

Children and young people receiving referrals in all three of the above categories would be at risk of harm, with those requiring emergency care potentially being seriously ill and/or experiencing suicidal thoughts.

There have been a number of efforts in recent years to improve mental health support in schools, including a push under the previous Conservative government to establish mental health support teams in schools. Meanwhile, in their election manifesto last year, Labour pledged for there to be a counsellor in every school - as well as a rollout of new ‘Young Futures’ hubs to provide open access mental health services for children and young people in every community. Research from the London School of Economics, published last year, found providing mental health support in schools could save more money than it costs within two years of being established.

Laura Bunt, chief executive at YoungMinds, said: ‘No young person should reach crisis point with their mental health, but as these concerning figures show, thousands of young people urgently need help. Early support would help prevent many young people from becoming more unwell, but instead their mental health is deteriorating, pushing them into crisis and, in some instances, putting young people’s lives at risk.’ She added: ‘Tweaks to the system will no longer work. We need major reforms that address the root causes of why so many young people are struggling. It must also be easier for young people to get help for their mental health when they need it. To make this happen, the government must urgently fulfil its promise to roll out early support hubs in every community.’

Responding to the figures, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said they were “concerning”.  He added: ‘Previous governments have had plans to tackle this crisis but there is very little evidence that things are improving. The current government needs to learn from the mistakes of the past and build up the capacity of services that can offer timely support to children and young people.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Too many children and young people are waiting too long to access the mental health care they need. We will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers, provide young people with access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and a Young Futures hub in every community.’

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