England Records 500,000 Child Mental Health A&E Visits Since 2019

Around 500,000 children and young people in England have attended emergency departments for mental health crises since 2019, according to new research released by the Royal College of Nursing. The RCN submitted freedom of information requests to 80 acute NHS trusts in England, representing 64 percent of those contacted.

The trusts reported more than 330,000 cases involving under-18s from 2019 to 2025, an average of 47,000 per year. The union extrapolated the national total to approximately 500,000, noting that the actual figure is likely higher because some trusts did not supply data for every year.

The data also showed an increase in patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E before admission to a mental health unit, rising from 237 cases in 2019 to 802 cases in 2025. A senior paediatric A&E nurse in London said staff lack the capacity and training to manage seven or eight mentally ill children daily.

Another nurse in the South of England described the environment as unsuitable, citing near misses when distressed teenagers share space with toddlers. A paediatric consultant in the Midlands said these patients often create significant disruption because their distress affects other families in the department.

The RCN is urging rapid expansion of dedicated mental health emergency centres announced by NHS England last year. Professor Nicola Ranger, the union’s general secretary and chief executive, said half a million children attending A&E in crisis demonstrates a system-wide failure and that current departments are unsuitable for vulnerable patients.

A Government spokesperson said the administration will publish a new mental health strategy this year focused on earlier intervention, faster access, and new facilities. The spokesperson added that the Government is increasing inpatient capacity, delivering 8,500 more mental health workers three years ahead of schedule, and investing more than £400 million in specialist mental health departments and centres.