Statistics from NHS England released today find that 1.89mn in Jan 2024 had an open referral to any secondary mental health service compared to 1.41mn people in March 2021 – an increase of 480k monthly referrals in just 3 years.
 
Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection at leading independent consultancy Broadstone, said: “We have seen a serious uptick in the prevalence of mental health issues since the pandemic, highlighted by the significant increase in referrals for secondary mental health services.
 
“With increased awareness of the importance of mental health and the stresses we have experienced during the pandemic and through the following economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the data may be unsurprising but is still extremely concerning.
 
“The silver lining, if there is one, is the significant proactive steps we are seeing many employers now take to protect the health and wellbeing of their employees. For mental health, this may involve carrying out mental health ‘audits’ to understand the prevalence and drivers of poor mental health, sourcing and promoting digital mental health solutions to reach home and hybrid workers or investing in onsite mental health services to support those employees who have returned to office working. Mental health awareness training for line managers and leaders can also play a vital role.
 
“These steps can develop a positive and supportive workplace culture while also helping to detect and treat mental health concerns at an early stage before they become more complex, speeding up recovery and minimising the cost of absenteeism, while also mitigating the risk of potentially costly claims on employee health insurance benefit programmes.”