Thursday 7 October 2021

Workforce shortages in mental health cause 'painfully' long waits for treatment

Workforce shortages in mental health cause 'painfully' long waits for treatment Record numbers of people need mental health treatment but there aren’t enough psychiatrists to meet demand, the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ 2021 census has revealed.

At least 1.5 million people in England are waiting for treatment but a tenth of consultant psychiatrist posts (568 out of 5,367) are not filled. The vacancies are causing some patients to wait 18 weeks or longer for treatment.

Official NHS workforce data shows that there are 4,500 full-time consultant psychiatrists for 56.5 million people, one psychiatrist per 12,567.

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