Urgent adult mental health crisis referrals double, says watchdog

Urgent adult referrals to mental health crisis teams in England more than doubled between 2023 and 2024, the healthcare watchdog said yesterday, adding that people were becoming more unwell while waiting for help from overstretched services.

- Jessica Murray Aamna Mohdin

The report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found there were not enough beds or enough staff and that ward managers felt pressed to discharge the "least unwell" patients.

Adult referrals to crisis teams increased to 3,063 in March 2024, from 1,400 in April 2023.

The report also raised concerns about the overrepresentation of black people being detained under the Mental Health Act, finding they were 3.5 times more likely to be detained than white people.

Dr Sarah Hughes, the chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said the statistics were "a source of national shame".

"Black people, particularly black men, have been consistently overrepresented in mental health crisis care data for years," she said. "They are also seven times more likely to be placed on a community treatment order, which are intrusive and don't serve their intended purpose of stopping people repeatedly going back to hospital."

She added that the report showed the mental health system was "light years away from delivering not just effective but compassionate care".