"In England in 2024-2025, 4.1 million people were in contact with mental health services, up 56% from 2.6 million in 2016-2017, according to NHS data. The number of children and young people in contact with services rose by 118%, from 500,000 to 1.2 million over the same period. Of 1.1 million urgent and emergency referrals to crisis care teams in 2024 and 2025, around 11% were for under-18s."
"Urgent and emergency mental health beds were nearly full, with occupancy rates of 95% to 97% between 2022 and 2024. Services are struggling to manage millions of additional patients, said Smith. Patients without timely access to treatment were at greater risk of relapse, becoming more unwell, and, in rare cases, posing a danger to themselves or others, she added. But they often wouldn't reach this point if they could get care and treatment earlier."
England is experiencing a severe mental health crisis characterized by a large and growing number of people in contact with services and rising demand from children and young people. Urgent and emergency referrals and crisis care use have increased substantially, and many patients face long waits in A&E or are sent outside their local area because beds are unavailable. Urgent and emergency mental health bed occupancy has frequently ranged from 95% to 97%. Services are struggling to manage millions of additional patients, increasing risks of relapse, worsening illness, and occasional danger to patients or others without earlier access to care.
Read at www.medscape.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]