Child mental health crisis sees 400k under-18s need NHS treatment each month

A record number of children are now being treated for mental health problems on the NHS, according to figures.

Latest NHS figures reveal 420,000 under-18s were either undergoing treatment or waiting to start in February.

This is a 54 per cent rise in the number of young people seeking help compared to the same time in 2020, before the pandemic struck. 

Experts say Covid has exacerbated mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and self-harm among children. NHS services may be overwhelmed by rising demand for help, campaigners fear. 

Virus restrictions and school closures damaged the mental health of UK children by disrupting their routines and decreasing social contact with friends. 

Experts warn the impact of the Covid lockdowns has exacerbated mental health problems among children and young people as treatment lists reach record highs (stock image)

There has been a record growth in the number of children and young listed as having an ‘open referral’ with NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in England, with 420,314 as of February. This is a 147,853 rise compared to pre-pandemic figures according to figures seen by The Guardian

Olly Parker, head of external affairs at mental health charity Young Minds, told The Guardian the record numbers represented an ‘unprecedented crisis’ in children’s mental health. 

‘The record high number of children and young people receiving care from the NHS tells us that the crisis in young people’s mental health is a wave that’s breaking now,’ he said. 

This February’s total of 420,314 ‘open referrals’ for NHS mental health for under-18s is the highest since records began in 2016.

The figure is a 147,853 rise compared to pre-pandemic figures and has grown by 80,096 in the last year alone.

Mr Parker added: ‘The rise in the number of young people seeking help from the NHS is relentless and unsustainable. 

‘Over the past two years young people have experienced isolation, disruption to their education and reduced access to support, including from counsellors and GPs.

‘All of these things have massively impacted their mental health, but these figures are only the tip of the iceberg and will continue to rise.’

There are also concerns a number of young Britons suffering from poor mental health are not getting the help they need because they don’t meet the threshold to get help from the NHS.

A survey of just over 1,000 GPs last month by charity stem4 found some children, even those who are self-harming, are not considered sick enough to get treatment. 

In one case, a crisis team in Wales would not immediately assess the mental health of an actively suicidal child, who had been stopped from jumping off a building earlier that day, unless the GP made a written referral. 

Nihara Krause, a consultant clinical psychologist and founder of stem4, said children were not getting the help they need. 

‘Teachers and GPs say that children in mental health distress are either being rejected in record numbers because their difficulties do not meet the high threshold for treatment, or they are stuck on long waiting lists,’ she said.

The shocking state of NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMS) has long been criticised, with too many children waiting too long to get help.

In February, NHS statistics revealed 37 per cent of those on waiting lists in 2020/21 were yet to start treatment by the end of the financial year.

A postcode lottery for access to treatment also exists, with children in some parts of the country waiting an average of just six days, while others were forced to wait 81.

NHS England’s national mental health director, Claire Murdoch, said the pandemic had ‘inevitably’ taken a toll on the nation’s mental health. 

‘As these figures show, demand continues to skyrocket, with a third more children treated in February this year compared to February 2020,’ she said. 

She added that the NHS was responding to this rising demand  by expanding mental health teams in 4,700 schools and colleges and setting up 24/7 mental health crisis telephone support services for all ages, which now receive 20,000 calls a month.