Mental health crisis: The children and young people waiting years for CAMHS support

Of almost one million children and young people referred to mental health services in 2022/23, some 270 000 – more than 1 in 4 – were still waiting for support at the end of the year.

NHS data obtained by the children's commissioner for England shows that the average wait for a second contact (which is usually when support begins) for these children and young people was 142 days – including 32 000 who had been waiting for more than 2 years.

Of those whose reasons for referral were known, the most common issues were:

However, concerningly, 34.4% of cases were recorded as reason ‘unknown’.

The disturbing picture is painted in a report from the children's commissioner. It finds that 949 200 children and young people – roughly 8% – had active referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the 2022/23 financial year. This is up from 2021/22 when there were 734 000 active referrals.