Responding to the government’s announcement on welfare reforms, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said:

"Trust leaders will understandably be concerned about the knock-on impact of today’s announcement for people with mental health conditions and demand for already overstretched mental health services.

"Mental health trust leaders previously told us that changes to universal credit and benefits were increasing demand for services, as were loneliness, homelessness and wider deprivation.

"With poor mental health the leading driver of ill-health related economic inactivity, they will also be worried that today’s announcement could lead to worse mental and physical health for patients and shift further costs and pressures onto the health and care system, including overstretched emergency departments and mental health services.

"This is a real concern when referrals are 30% higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic and the number of people in contact with mental health services reached a record high of two million in January 2025.

"It is vital that the knock-on effects of today’s announcement are fully assessed alongside further investment in preventative services and steps to tackle the other complex factors underpinning economic inactivity across the country."