Nearly half a million more people are known to be in contact with mental health services compared with four years ago, a royal college has warned.
The figures, extrapolated from NHS data by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, illustrate the intense pressure that mental health services continue to be under post pandemic.
The number of people in contact with mental health, learning disability and autism services has risen by nearly 500,000 in four years, the college said.
More than 1.85 million people were in contact with these services at the end of November 2023, up from 1.36 million at the end of November 2019.
Most people reached out for support from adult mental health services (1.2 million) or children and young people’s mental health services (444,904).
The number of people in contact with learning disability and autism services has more than doubled to 266,575.
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Mental health services are struggling to meet this rise in demand for care because of chronic staff shortages and a lack of resources. One in seven medical posts in NHS mental health trusts in England were vacant as of September 2023, the college added.
Nevertheless, the latest data from NHS England has suggested more than 40,000 people with mental health problems are now being supported back into employment.
Its figures have coincided with a campaign to encourage more people to sign up for help they might need through the NHS Talking Therapies service.
As part of a pilot programme across the country, 40,000 people are currently being linked up with employment advisors to support them back into work, NHS England has said.
By March next year, every person accessing NHS Talking Therapies will “be offered the chance to benefit from employment advice”.
On the NHS Digital statistics, Dr Lade Smith, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “The country is in the grip of a mental health crisis which shows no sign of easing. The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have fuelled a rise in cases of anxiety, depression and other serious mental illness which can be life-threatening when left untreated.
“We’re seeing more and more people arriving to services in need of urgent care and they often require more complex and long-term treatment.
“This crisis is not inevitable as the majority of mental illness is preventable and treatable. Psychiatrists help thousands of people to make a full recovery every year and early intervention is often the most effective way of preventing people from developing more serious conditions.
“We’re calling on government to introduce a target to bring numbers down and provide services with the funding and resources they need to achieve it. This includes ensuring services have the staff they need by recruiting more people into the mental health workforce and supporting existing staff to remain in it,” Dr Smith added.
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