Specialist mental health service referrals hit 4.3 million high last year in England
Over 1 million of these referrals were for children
A record high of 4.3 million referrals to specialist mental health care services were made in England last year.
This is up 600,000 from 2019, when the yearly total of referrals stood at 3.7 million.
Notably, last year's total number of referrals included more than a million (1,024,877) for children.
On this referral increase, The Royal College of Psychiatrists said that the country is coming to terms with the "biggest hit to its mental health in generations."
The college have called for government action to tackle this increase and said that without a fully funded plan for mental health services, thousands of people will be "left waiting far too long for the treatment they need."
Breaking down the NHS Digital data from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, last year one million people were receiving specialist treatment for conditions including addiction, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The College said that the most recent data on children and young people's eating disorders found record numbers are waiting for routine care and only 59% of those waiting for urgent care are seen within one week.
Reportedly, the NHS delivered 1.8 million mental health consultations in December.
However, data has revealed that there are still 1.4 million people waiting for treatment.
Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "As the pressure on services continues to ratchet up, the silence from government continues to be of grave concern for the College, the wider mental health workforce and, most importantly, our patients.
"The warning of the long tail of mental ill health caused by the pandemic has not been heeded.
"Many thousands of people will be left waiting far too long for the treatment they need unless the government wakes up to the crisis that is engulfing the country.
"Staff are working flat out to give their patients the support they need but the lack of resources and lack of staff mean it's becoming an impossible situation to manage.
"We don't need warm words or empty commitments. We need a fully funded plan for mental health services, backed by a long-term workforce plan, as the country comes to terms with the biggest hit to its mental health in generations."
A spokesperson for the Department and Social Care said: "We are committed to ensuring everyone is able to access the help and advice they need, which is why we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24, on top of the £500 million we have made available to address the impact of the pandemic.