Looks like you’re on the UK site. Choose another location to see content specific to your location
NHS England released updated figures last month outlining the volume of treatment its mental health services delivered in the last twelve months – which has seen the number of people in contact with NHS mental health, learning disability, and autism services reach nearly 3.8m users. This represents a rise of more than 40% since pre-pandemic years.
During the October 2024 budget, more than £26m has been identified to open new mental health crisis centres, whilst earlier this year, mental health support was added to 111 for the first time, in an effort to satisfy this increased demand. It is estimated that more than 1 million children had been seeking mental health support, and part of the actions being undertaken by the government is to roll-out hundreds of teams in schools to ensure a 1:2 ratio for pupils in England getting access to NHS support in classrooms by Spring 2025.
Minister for Mental Health, Baroness Merron, has also announced that mental health services will be getting support to recruit a further 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult services, in efforts to reduce delays and provide treatment quicker. As it stands, there remain persistent issues with long waiting times for specialist care, and adult mental health support waiting times have also increased.
