Mental health referrals surge in Hertfordshire
Herts Valleys CCG has seen an increase of 38% in the number of adults in contact with mental health services
Mental health services have hit a record point in England where some clinical commissioning groups have almost doubled in demand since the start of the pandemic.
Mental health charities are asking the government to act now so that people can access support quickly.
One of the biggest fears is actually that the mental health effects of the pandemic are going to get worse before they get better- as pressures like the full economic impact have not yet been seen.
Herts Valleys CCG has seen an increase of 38% in the number of adults in contact with mental health services.
Across England, there was an increase of 19% more mental health referrals in March this year in comparison the February 2020.
279,995 referrals were made altogether across England's Clinical Commissioning groups in this time period, and it is getting harder for patients to access the services they need, with some even saying they feel "abandoned."
MIND’s head of health policy Geoff Heyes said:
"In the first wave we had about 60% of people saying that their mental health had got worse over the pandemic but only about 30% of those that actually sought support."
"So there's definitely people holding back from getting support that they actually need and thankfully in the last six months or so of the pandemic we saw the government talking about if you need help go and get it, and that includes mental health services."
"Pre-pandemic, we had a really good plan in place as part of the NHS long term plan which really prioritised mental health services and had trajectories in investment."
"But those things you know were for the old world in the sense that what we need is to make sure that the investment is right to support the expansion of those ambitions, because if we've got more people with mental problems we've got more people needing support the NHS needs to be equipped to be able to do that job, so I think that's the obvious first thing."