Almost a million children in England have a referral to children and young people’s mental health services, new figures show.
Figures released by the Children’s Commissioner for England show the numbers increased by 10,000 from the end of March 2024 to more than 958,200.
Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, seeks a renewed focus and investment in children’s mental health services. Credit: PA
Figures are ‘staggering’
The equivalent of 8 per cent of England’s population of 12 million children now have a referral. That’s almost one in 10.
Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza described the figures as “staggering”.
She is calling for renewed focus and investment in children’s mental health services through the NHS’s 10-year plan.
Jump in waiting list of 50,000
De Souza found that more children began treatment in 2023/24 than the previous year. However, the numbers still waiting to be seen jumped by 50,000.
She said the children were “missing precious moments of their childhood while stuck waiting for vital treatment for months, sometimes years, but also the scaffolding that makes their lives happy and fulfilled with their friends”.
Children who were yet to receive support by the end of 2023/24 waited an average of six months for treatment to start.
Nearly one-third of these children waited more than a year.
The system needs to ‘listen earlier’
De Souza said we must stop asking children to “prove they are unwell enough to deserve help”.
Instead, she said we need a system that “listens earlier, acts faster, and supports every child”.
We asked the Department of Health and Social Care to comment, but it has yet to respond.
Related:
- £70m boost to mental health services
- CQC slams mental health services
- Autism parents suffer more mental health problems
- Social workers aim to cut hospital stays
- Still stuck in mental health hospitals
- NHS watchdog demands community care
- Disabled children hidden from society
- New NHS guidelines shift care provision
- Commissioner calls for calm-room review
Published: 4 June 2025
