There has been an increase in the number of children across England needing specialist treatment for severe mental health crises, according to new NHS data.
Overall, there has been a 10 per cent rise in emergency, very urgent and urgent referrals for under-18s, with the total increasing to 34,793 between April and October 2024, up from 31,749 in the same period the previous year.
The figures come after Labour, in its manifesto, pledged to provide access to mental health professionals for every school.
More mental health referrals
Overall, the data, analysed by the charity YoungMinds, reveals that there were:
- 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 from the same period in the previous year.
- 24,886 new “urgent referrals” to crisis care teams between April and October, up 13 per cent from the same period the year before.
- 5,483 new “emergency referrals” to crisis care teams between April and October, down 5 per cent from the same period the previous year.
The rise comes amid ongoing efforts to improve mental health support in schools, which started with the push for mental health support teams (MHST) in schools under the previous Conservative government.
However, that rollout of MHSTs was described as “glacial” by school leaders and many of these teams have seen specialist workers leave because staff have felt “in over their head” amid wider service gaps to support pupils
This is despite recent research showing that creating a MHST for a school saves more money than it costs within two years.
‘Lives at risk’
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called the figures “concerning”, saying they show that many children are not receiving adequate support early enough.
“Previous governments have had plans to tackle this crisis but there is very little evidence that things are improving,” he told Tes.
“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.”
Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, agreed with Mr Di’Iasio that the previous government did not improve the state of child mental health.
“This crisis grew wildly out of control under the last government, exacerbated by the under-investment in specialist mental health services,” she said.
Ms Hannafin added that these figures highlight the urgency of fully rolling out mental health support teams for schools.
Laura Bunt, chief executive at YoungMinds, said the data underlines why it is so important that investment is made in supporting children in crisis as soon as possible.
“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 said.
In response the data, the Department of Health and Social Care 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.
“As part of our Plan for Change, we will get the NHS back on its feet, making it fit for the future.”
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
