Tens of thousands more children waiting for mental health care
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Tens of thousands more children are waiting for mental health treatment to start than three years ago, The Independent can reveal, as experts sound the alarm over over funding cuts.
At least 175,846 children have been waiting more than two years to see a specialist, according to an analysis by think tank The King’s Fund. That is almost 50,000 more than the 126,677 waiting that long in April 2024.
Its researchers warned the government that its recent decision to end the ring-fenced funding for children and young people’s mental health services undermines the prime minister’s ambitions to cut mental health waiting times – a promise he made in his Labour Party conference speech.
Yvette Cooper, the government’s new health secretary, also highlighted how “more teenagers in mental health crisis than ever” in her party conference speech.
This year the Department for Health and Social Care, under former health secretary Wes Streeting, faced a backlash after it watered down commitments brought in under the Conservative government, which required local NHS commissioners to increase mental health spending in line with their overall spending, in what was called the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS).
Last year the MHIS included a requirement to increase spending on services for children and young people over and above the overall mental health service rate, recognising the historical underinvestment in their care. However, from this year, the requirement for children’s services was dropped, meaning local NHS commissioners are no longer required to increase funding.
The King’s Fund has argued this leaves young people’s services at risk of losing much-needed increased investment.
Children and young people make up around 30 per cent of all demand for mental health and neurodevelopmental services but they receive just 8 per cent of the total mental health spending.
Figures analysed by the King’s Fund show that as of July 2026, 584,193 children were waiting for care, up from 563,754 in April 2026.
Of those waiting, just over half, 297,607, have been waiting for a year, and 30 per cent,175,846, have been waiting over two years. These figures do not include autism and learning disability waiting times.
Niamh Buckingham, policy adviser at The King’s Fund, said: “With half of all mental health conditions starting before adulthood, we risk missing a crucial window to support children and young people when they need it most.
“Hundreds of thousands of children are stuck waiting months or even years for mental health support, placing pressure on families, schools, and community services, with wider impacts on their education, relationships, and future.“
“This highlights the need for a renewed focus on preventing poor mental health in early life, as well as action to retain the spotlight on funding children’s mental health services and enabling them to intervene earlier. Otherwise, we risk a generation growing up in uncertainty, stuck in waiting rooms, rather than being supported to thrive in classrooms and their communities.”
The King’s Fund also pointed out that the government’s promise to reduce waits by recruiting 8,500 more mental health staff and expanding access to care through hubs and schools will require adequate levels of investment.
The think tank’s report warned: “With children’s services no longer given the safeguard of funding from the investment standard, and local NHS commissioners (Integrated Care Boards) facing difficult decisions to balance their books, the think tank says that the government must ensure that children’s services are prioritised.”
Earlier this month, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health published a report revealing that between 2019 and 2025 there had been a 36 per cent rise in children attending A&E over a mental health crisis, with children as young a six recorded in NHS data.
Meanwhile, another report by the NHS safety body, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), warned children have been left waiting far too long in A&Es after a mental health crisis, with one trust reporting a young person had been in an emergency department for six weeks.
The Department for Health and Social Care was approached for comment.
