More than a quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS, as services struggle to cope with surging demand. New research based on freedom of information requests reveals that some NHS trusts are refusing treatment to up to 60% of children referred by GPs.
The study, conducted by the House magazine and shared with the Guardian, highlights a postcode lottery in mental health care. Spending per child varies fourfold across different regions, and average waiting times for a first appointment range from just 10 days to three years. In 2021-22, trusts raised the threshold for offering support to tackle backlogs, leading to hundreds of thousands of children being turned away or abandoning treatment after long waits.
Overall, 32% of all referrals were denied help, up from a quarter the previous year, according to responses from 70 UK trusts and boards providing children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The crisis has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with many trusts raising the severity threshold for treatment. Families and GPs report that even children who have self-harmed or considered suicide are being denied care because they are deemed not ill enough.
Former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield said long waits mean only the most severe crises are prioritised. She has heard repeated stories of children who attempted suicide being refused support because they did not meet a threshold of multiple attempts. “The threshold is so high because the system is buckling,” she said. “It was struggling pre-Covid but the pandemic poured rocket fuel on it.”
Olly Parker, head of external affairs at YoungMinds, described the findings as showing a “system in total shutdown” with “no clear government plan to rescue it”. He added: “In the meantime, young people are self-harming and attempting suicide as they wait months and even years for help after being referred by doctors.”
Average waiting lists in England rose by two-thirds over two years, with children waiting 21 weeks for a first appointment on average. Only 12% of trusts met the four-week government target. Almost three-quarters of English trusts had at least one young person waiting over a year, and two-fifths had someone waiting at least two years. The longest recorded wait was 217 weeks.
