Demand and activity
The latest Mental Health Service Dataset (MHSDS) monthly performance data shows the high demand and increasing pressures NHS trusts are facing, with figures indicating that more people are seeking support than ever before. Our latest explainer blog highlights that despite increased investment and new services improving access to care, significant unmet need remains.
- A record number of people are in contact with mental health services, with figures reaching over 2 million in December 2024. This is up by 7.3% compared to a year ago. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, contacts have increased considerably (by 45.5%).
- Of these, a record 486,476 were in contact with children and young people (CYP) mental health services. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, CYP contacts have doubled; an increase of 106.4%.
- New referrals to mental health services fell again this month to 407,255. However, they are up by 7% since last year and are 39% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
- In 2024, 812,185 CYP accessed mental health services with at least one contact, another record high. This is an increase of 6% compared to 2023 and an additional 298,221 contacts since the full set of ambitions for CYP mental health services were set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
- The rising demand for mental health services is resulting in more patients receiving care far from their homes and families. At the end of December 2024, there were 396 out of area placements (OAPs) in adult acute beds, a decrease of 8 OAPs since the previous month (-2%) but an increase of 26 OAPs compared to the previous year.
Learning disability and autism
- Of the 2 million people in contact with mental health services, 286,809 of these were with learning disability and autism (LDA) services. This is an increase of 6% compared to last year and 2.3 times higher than pre-pandemic levels.
- There were 2,065 learning disabilities and/or autism inpatients at the end of January 2024. Half of these have had a total length of stay of two years or more.
Figure 9
Number of patients in contact with mental health or learning disabilities services
Community mental health
- Between October 2024 and December 2024, 197,300 CYP accessed support through NHS funded mental health services, 13% higher than the same time a year ago. Median wait times increased to 13 days from 12 days last month.
- During the same period, 383,019 CYP were still waiting for treatment from community mental health services. This is up by 25.9% compared to last year.
- For adults with serious mental illness, 126,718 received their second contact with services between October 2024 and December 2024, a decrease of nearly 2% compared to the previous three-month period. The median wait times for adults is 42 days, the same number of days compared to the previous three-month period.
- 221,427 adults with serious mental illness were still waiting for treatment from community mental health services in the same period.
Intervention-specific performance and waiting times
Eating disorders
- Between October 2024 and December 2024, 80.8% of children and young people with eating disorders categorised as urgent cases, started treatment within one week and 81.9% of routine cases started treatment within four weeks, both missing their respective target of 95%
FIGURE 10
Percentage of urgent and routine cases seen within one and four weeks
NHS Talking Therapies
- There were 125,141 referrals to NHS talking therapies in December 2024, a fall of over 24,000 from last month. Compared to a year ago, referrals to services increased by nearly 4% and up by 13% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
- Despite the increased demand, 91.2% of referrals accessed NHS talking therapies within six weeks, meeting the national waiting time standard of 75%. This is down slightly from 91.7% in November 2024.
FIGURE 11
Percentage of referrals accessing NHS talking therapies within six weeks
Urgent and emergency liaison mental health services
- In December 2024, there were 15,056 new referrals to liaison psychiatry teams from A&E with first face to face contact within one hour. Compared to a year ago, this has increased by 9.7%.
- Latest data from the access to crisis care via NHS 111 publication reveals that 156,722 calls to access care through NHS 111 were received, equating to 5,225 calls per day in December. Of the calls received, 108,859 were answered (69% of calls received).