The number of young people receiving mental health services has exceeded 240,000, according to NHS figures.
The statistics show that of the 1,157,027 in contact with mental health services at the end of February, 240,020 or 20.7 per cent were aged under 19.
The figure represents a 7.3 per cent increase on the figure for March 2016 of 223,680.
The statistics show that at the end of February, there were 1,217,357 people in contact with mental health, learning disability and autism services and the majority of these 1,018,460 were in adult mental health services.
There were 145,853, people in contact with children and young people’s mental health services and 78,875 in learning disabilities and autism services.
During February, 241,760 new referrals were received into services and 1,468,368 care contacts were attended. The figures show that 19,519 people were subject to the Mental Health Act at the end of February, including 13,915 people detained in hospital.
For children and young people’s mental health services, there were 314,252 referrals active at any point during February for people aged under 19. Of these, 42,729 were new referrals and 33,823 people under 19 were discharged during the month.
The NHS figures also revealed that between 1 January and 31 March, 1,635 new referrals for people aged under 19 with eating disorder issues were received.
