People are waiting too long for mental health care and not able to access the care they need when they need it, a survey from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed today (Thursday 3 April 2025).
CQC’s survey of more than 14,000 people who accessed community mental health services, found that 4 in 10 (40%) people are waiting too long for care.
A third of people (33%) waited 3 months or more for their first treatment and 4 in 10 people said they did not receive any support while they waited.
42% of people said their mental health deteriorated while waiting for care. While this is a slight reduction from last year (44% in 2023), this still means nearly half of people reported becoming more unwell while waiting for care. And people who waited longer were more likely to report that their mental health got worse (71% for those who waited more than 6 months).
The annual survey highlighted persistent gaps in care including people struggling to access care, not feeling involved in their care, and not receiving support when they needed it.
Those accessing Older People’s Mental Health Services (OPMHS), for people aged 65 and older, generally reported more positive experiences. Nearly three quarters (73%) said they always felt listened to by NHS staff. However, almost half (48%) of those accessing OPMHS were not asked if they needed help in accessing care and this figure showed no improvement from the previous year (49% in 2023).
More young people using Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) reported needing support in accessing care than last year (30% in 2024 compared with 22% in 2023). However, the number of young people using CAMHS who reported getting help for their physical needs dropped from last year (26% reported definitely getting support compared with 32% in 2023).
This year a third (33%) of people accessing CAMHS didn’t know who to contact in a crisis; which is a slight decrease from last year (38%). Worryingly, more than a third (36%) of young people who did access crisis care said they didn’t get the help they needed and in more than a third (36%) of instances no support was given to their family or carers during the crisis. Nevertheless, the majority (87%) of young people using CAMHS felt involved, to some extent, in their care planning.
Three quarters (77%) of all respondents weren’t signposted to help or advice with cost of living, even though this can be a significant driver of mental health issues. More generally, how people accessed care really affected their experiences. Whilst 1 in 10 (10%) reported that they weren’t treated with dignity and respect, people who accessed care on the phone reported a worse experience in accessing services, getting the appropriate support, and having a choice about how their care would be delivered. Workforce issues remain an issue with the vacancy rate across the mental health sector being 9.9%, with over 10,000 empty mental health nursing posts.
While the report showed concerning trends, there were small improvements in people receiving support to access treatment. Nearly half (44%) of people were asked if they needed support to access care, an increase of 3% from last year, and of those that did need support almost a third (32%) felt the support they received completely met their needs, also an increase of 3% from last year.
Interim Director of Mental Health at the Care Quality Commission, Jenny Wilkes, said:
This report lays bare the devastating reality that people are still not getting the mental health support they need, when they need it.
This is particularly stark when looking at young people – we know that early intervention is critical in making sure people get the support they need and too often this is not happening.
Too many people are waiting too long for the care they need – and experiencing a deterioration in their mental health while they wait. This, coupled with pressures such as high workforce vacancies, is causing a bottleneck of supply and demand – and people’s health and often their ability to contribute to society is suffering as a result.
Workforce issues and underfunding need to be addressed urgently in order to drive the improvements that people with mental health issues need and deserve.