Data obtained by Medical Negligence Assist found average waiting times of over five weeks for a first appointment at 67% of trusts.

Speaking in September, the children's commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza said: ‘I was horrified to see the latest NHS statistics… For children and young people, each year is a significant portion of their young lives, so we need a fresh approach that intervenes much earlier to prevent children from reaching crisis point.'

The long waiting times came in the face of a record 1.3m referrals in the last school year, marking a 71% increase since 2019/20, when 759,772 were made. 

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust reported the longest average waiting time out of all 33 trusts. 

Children referred to its mental health services face an average wait of 120 days (17 weeks) from referral to first appointment.

The trust confirmed a maximum average waiting time as of April 2024, of 2,366 days for a first appointment. 

At Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, children's mental health referrals when ‘in crisis' more than tripled since 2019. 

An Oxford Health spokesperson said: 'We operate a robust referral and triage system alongside a dedicated multi-disciplinary offer delivering care and support prior to first appointment to ensure children, young people and their families have access to care as soon as possible. Emergency referrals are seen within four hours, urgent cases with seven days. Some services do not have a waiting time for diagnosis and treatment. When they do we continually reviews urgency and work closely with families, schools and our partners in education and the third sector to ensure children get the wrap around support and care they need.'

Chief operating officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Emma McGuigan, said: ‘The health and wellbeing of children is a priority for the trust. We acknowledge that waiting times for access to our children and young people mental health services are longer than we would hope, which is largely due to an increase in demand for our services.

‘We do however have an agreed plan which covers the whole of Lancashire and South Cumbria and to date, have invested in an Initial Response Service and enhanced support in the community. Earlier this year, East Lancashire Children and Adolescent Services, a service rated ‘outstanding' by the CQC, transferred to the trust and is now leading a review on access across all of the geography we serve, which will see further improvement to support children and young people in crisis.

‘We are confident that in the coming months we will have a sustainable, locality-based model for our young people in the future.'

An NHS spokesperson said: ‘Improving access to mental health services is a key priority, and the NHS is treating 55% more young people than pre-pandemic and expanding services as quickly as possible, but we know there is much more to do to reduce long waits for patients and ensure every young person who needs it is able to access specialist mental health support. 

 

‘We have added an extra 40,000 mental health staff and plans are in place to ensure more than half of pupils and learners in schools and colleges have access to an NHS mental health team in the classroom by spring 2025 - ahead of the original target.'