Mental health care access for U18s soars four-fold in decade

ONE in five young people in the UK now access specialist mental health care by the age of 18 - a dramatic fourfold increase in under two decades.

- STEPHEN BEECH

One in five young people in the UK now access specialist mental health care by age 18

Figures from Wales - which researchers say serve as an accurate indicator for the whole of the UK - indicate a “consistent” year-on-year rise in service use, with a sharp acceleration since 2010.

Experts say that existing services may no longer meet the “soaring” needs of today’s young people, with many treatment decisions based on decades-old evidence.

Rates of mental ill health among young people have been rising worldwide.

But there has been a lack of evidence on the proportion of young people using specialist NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).