Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting revealed the milestone during a speech at the Royal College of Emergency Medicine's annual conference in Birmingham last week.

He said: ‘We have recruited 8,500 more therapists, psychiatrists and mental health nurses. They are delivering more care, earlier and closer to people's homes. 

‘We also promised to put mental health support in every school, and up to 900,000 more children can today access that support compared to this time last year.'

Around one in five adults in England (an estimated 9.4m) have a common mental health condition.

The Government said the additional workforce will mean more people will be able to access mental health services sooner and closer to home, cutting waiting times, shifting more care to the community and helping people access mental health support before they reach crisis point.

The new workers - including therapists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses and support staff - are now in post across NHS trusts and community health services in England, providing care to children, young people and adults.