Over a million children referred to mental health services in England
The children's commissioner reports that over a million children in England were referred to mental health services in a year, calling the situation a crisis.
Narrative Synthesis
Neutral news article compiled by integrating coverage details from all reporting stations.
More than a million children in England were referred to mental health services in a single year, according to new figures from the Children's Commissioner. The data, covering the year to March 2025, shows a 10% rise in referrals compared with the previous year, with over a third of those children still waiting for treatment by the end of the period.
The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, described the situation as a crisis, warning that young people's lives are being put on hold for months or even years while they wait for help. The surge in demand is being driven partly by an increase in diagnoses of neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, autism, anxiety and Tourette's syndrome. These conditions also tend to have the longest waiting times for treatment.
For children with suspected autism alone, the proportion who had not received treatment by the end of the year rose to 83%. Dame de Souza called for a more joined-up approach, urging health services to work closely with education and social care. She said support should be offered early, in nurseries and schools, through mental health support teams, counsellors, speech and language therapy and family help. The question, she argued, should be 'How can I help you?' rather than 'What's wrong with you?'
Dame de Souza insisted that failing to act now would cost far more in the long term, both financially and in terms of children's wellbeing. The report highlights a system struggling to keep pace with rising demand, and the commissioner's recommendations focus on early intervention and cross-sector collaboration.
On screen
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Key Claims
Factual or political claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | ITV |
|---|---|
| For children with suspected autism, 83% had not been treated. | |
| Over a million children had an active referral to children and young people's mental health services in the year to March 2025, a 10% increase on the previous year. | |
| Over a third of those children had not received treatment by the end of that period. |
Channel Perspectives
Editorial focus, emphasis angles, and key quotes from each reporting news station.
The report focused on the scale of the crisis, the rise in neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and the long waiting times. It gave prominent airtime to the Children's Commissioner's call for integrated early support across health, education and social care. The tone was factual but conveyed urgency, with the presenter framing the situation as 'getting worse' and the reporter noting that 'actionable solutions' exist.
- “young people's lives are being put on hold for months or even years while they wait for treatment.”
- “Let's make sure that health work with education, with social care and we think about children's lives, we think about supporting the children in crisis and getting the support whether it's mental health support teams, counselors, whether it's speech and language, whether it's family help, getting that around nurseries and around schools nice and early.”
- “not acting now would cost a lot more in the long term.”
Bulletin Timeline
Chronological list of news reports tracked for this story.