This new report published by the Education Policy Institute, commissioned by The Prudence Trust and in partnership with Youth Access, finds significant gaps in early mental health support for young people across England – and a rise in the number of young people reaching a crisis point.
The new research, using data collected from integrated care systems, local authorities and NHS trusts, shows substantial geographic variation in the range of non-specialist mental health support services for young people – with no clear link between the level of need and the range of support on offer.
Meanwhile, new data from NHS England shows that hospital admissions for mental health reasons have increased by 20 per cent since 2017 for 11- to 25-year-olds – with around 150,000 young people visiting A&E for their mental health.
Alongside the report, EPI has created an interactive tool showing the availability of different non-specialist mental health service types, according to data provided by integrated care boards and local authorities.
The report finds that:
- There is substantial variation across the country in the range of mental health support services delivered outside of NHS settings available to young people. These services include open-access or drop-in mental health services, youth groups, and peer support.
- The range of available services does not appear to be related to the number of young people in an area, whether an area is urban or rural, or the level of deprivation.
- Whilst integrated care boards and partnerships bring together both local authorities and NHS trusts to plan effective provision, we find many instances of conflicting information in the responses we received, indicating varying levels of awareness of the service landscape.
- Targeted services for groups with barriers to accessing mental healthcare are particularly lacking: according to our data, half of areas did not have a targeted service for LGBTQ+ young people, and two thirds did not have any targeted service for young people from ethnic minority groups or for other under-served groups, including refugee and asylum-seekers or care-experienced young people.
- New data from NHS England shows that, between 2017 and 2023, the number of young people aged 11 to 25 admitted to hospital for mental health reasons increased by 20 per cent to about 150,000, whilst admission episodes rose by a third, indicating that more young people are reaching a crisis point and experiencing multiple episodes of admission for their mental health.
The report makes the following policy recommendations:
- The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) should commission research exploring the existence, quality and accessibility of non-specialist services supporting young people’s mental health.
- DHSC should commission further research to investigate how all existing mental health services, including non-specialist and specialist services, delivered in all relevant settings including schools, are meeting demand for young people’s mental health at all levels. To improve understanding of need and demands for services, additional research should examine incidence patterns in more depth, with a particular focus on specific groups such as girls and young women, ethnic minority groups, and LGBTQ+ youth.
- The Office for Health Improvement Disparities (OHID) should work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to develop guidance laying out what the local early intervention service offer should look like.
- NHS England should develop guidance on effective governance to address persistent weaknesses in provision, identified by this research and that of others. This guidance should outline best practices for stakeholder collaboration, addressing fragmentation across different commissioners and providers, embedding children and families in governance structures, and harmonising data collection approaches
• The rollout of Young Futures Hubs, a key pillar of the new government’s youth mental health support programme, should address provision gaps and integrate with existing open access services identified through existing research, including this report.
You can download and read the full report here.
