Figures for NHS crisis mental health referrals in Leeds show true impact of lockdown - YEP Comment
Campaigners are today calling on the Government to step up support after new figures showed a shocking rise in the number of people being referred for urgent mental health care.
Leeds CCG recorded a 118 per cent increase in referrals for mental health services between February 2020 and March 2021.
And the average number of monthly referrals to ‘urgent crisis care’ rose by an astronomical 419 per cent from 2020-21 compared to 2019-20.
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It must be acknowledged that an increase could have been inevitable as people resisted accessing services during the height of the pandemic to ease the burden on the NHS.
However, the figures clearly demonstrate lockdown’s impact upon mental health, as well as the economic hardship that has accompanied it for so many.