The cost to the NHS of emergency child mental health admissions has quadrupled in the past 15 years, research shows

The annual cost to the NHS to treat children and young people in mental health crisis in specialised acute hospital wards quadrupled in the decade between 2012 and 2022.

University College London researchers have found that the cost is now at a record high of £87.5 million.

They analysed data on all admissions of five to 18-year-olds to general acute medical wards in acute NHS trusts in England from April 2012 to March 2022.

The main reasons for this rise are rising admissions for eating disorders – up by 515% from 478 in 2012 to 2,938 in 2022 – and longer hospital stays.

Children and young people are most commonly admitted to general wards from Accident and Emergency (A&E) because they’re too unwell to go home, or it’s unsafe for them there.

“General acute medical wards” refers to hospital wards specialised to provide rapid assessment, treatment and care, such as eating disorder wards, as well as bridge gaps between A&E, GPs and other wards. However, they don’t provide specialist mental health services and aren’t designed for long stays. 

The team’s findings follow their previous report that the number of children and young people admitted to these wards in England because of mental health increased by 65% during the same decade, 2012-2022.

The total cost was £22.5 million in 2012, compared to £87.5 million in 2022.

Are hospitals the right settings?

“Hospitals appear to be absorbing the cost of the country’s mental health crisis, despite not always being set up to manage them,” commented study author Lee Hudson.

“Acute medical wards are important places for caring for young people with mental health concerns – especially those with co-existing physical health problems like starvation from an eating disorder. But they may not be set up with an appropriate ward environment to provide this care, and sometimes staff working there need more training and support with relevant skills,” he added. 

The report, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, also showed how referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services more than doubled between 2017 and 2022.

The authors are now calling for greater investment in community-based services and early intervention.