Children in mental health crisis waiting up to three days in A&E for specialist bed in England

Children and young people in England experiencing mental health crises are spending up to three days in A&E before receiving beds in specialist units. Delays are described as extremely distressing for patients and staff, and A&E is portrayed as a harmful substitute for appropriate mental health support. Some children become so troubled and disruptive that staff increasingly use medication to sedate them to manage behaviour. Freedom of information requests show the number of under-18s forced to wait at least 12 hours before admission to mental health units more than trebled from 237 in 2019 to 802 in 2025. Multiple NHS trusts report children waiting three days or more in A&E. Rising and changing needs are linked to children becoming more unwell and presenting with more complex, severe problems at younger ages.

"Children and young people in England having a mental health crisis are spending up to three days in an A&E unit before they get a bed in a specialist unit, NHS figures reveal. One children's nurse who works in an emergency department said such long waits for under-18s who were in acute distress were frankly barbaric but becoming far more normal. Some of those who end up stuck in A&E become so troubled and disruptive that staff are increasingly using medication to sedate them to manage their behaviour."

"The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the delays highlighted a catastrophic system-wide failure by NHS mental health services to intervene to stop school-age children ending up in crisis. Seeking help at A&E was often damaging and potentially traumatising for them, it said. Freedom of information requests by the RCN to NHS trusts in England also found that the number of under-18s in mental health crisis forced to wait at least 12 hours before being admitted to a mental health unit had more than trebled, from 237 in 2019 to 802 in 2025."

"Three trusts Barts Health trust and Lewisham and Greenwich trust, both in London, and the Morecambe Bay trust in Cumbria told the union that children and young people had spent three days or more waiting in their A&E for a bed. One A&E nurse said such long waits were extremely distressing for the patients involved and for the staff looking after them. Another said: A&E is just seen as this big receptacle for all children who are dysregulated or in crisis. But A&E is not respite for children with mental health concerns. It can often exacerbate their trauma."

"Dr Sam Jones, the research officer for mental health at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said children in mental health crisis were now often more unwell than in the past. Alongside rising levels of poor mental health, the nature of need is changing fast. Problems are more complex and severe, more younger children are affected a"

Read at www.theguardian.com