New analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrists has found that record numbers of children and young people are being referred to mental health services for crisis and non-crisis care.

The analysis of NHS Digital data found that: 190,271 young people under the age of 18 were referred to children and young people’s mental health services between April and June this year, up 134 per cent on the same period last year, whilst 8,552 children and young people were referred for urgent or emergency crisis care between April and June this year, up 80 per cent on the same period last year .

The Royal College of Psychiatrists also reports that there were 340,694 children in contact with children and young people’s mental health services at the end of June, up 25 per cent on the same month last year (272,529) and up 51 per cent on June 2019 (225,480).

The organisation is calling on the new Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, to make children and young people’s mental health needs a top priority., stressing that he must ensure that all schools have clear plans in place to respond to pupils’ mental health needs and increase investment in staff training to improve the roll-out of Mental Health Support Teams.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is also calling on the government to invest in a national network of early support hubs to provide easy-to-access, drop-in mental health support for young people, on a self-referral basis.

Dr Elaine Lockhart, chair of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “These alarming figures reflect what I and many other frontline psychiatrists are seeing in our clinics on a daily basis. The pandemic has had a devastating effect on the nation’s mental health, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that children and young people are suffering terribly.

“Early intervention is key to recovery. Schools have a critical role to play in this and the education secretary must do all that he can to prioritise pupils’ mental health. Children’s mental health services must also be properly funded and properly staffed if we are to treat the ever-growing number needing mental health care. Without investment, we run the risk of many more needing crisis help.”