NHS queues 'to create lost generation of children', report warns Report finds 82 per cent of trusts are unable to meet demand for under 18s' care By Xantha Leatham For The Daily Mail Published: 00:36 BST, 15 July 2024 | Updated: 00:42 BST, 15 July 2024 e-mail View comments Children and young people risk becoming a forgotten generation due to crippling waits for NHS care, health leaders have warned. A report from NHS Providers found that 82 per cent of trusts it surveyed were unable to meet the demand for under-18s' support. Mental health services, for example, were in contact with 5.
3million children and young people in 2023/24 – up 8.1 per cent on 2022/23 and 25.7 per cent on 2021/22.
Most long-term health conditions develop during childhood – for example, 75 per cent of mental health problems occur before the age of 24. 'Intervening during this period is therefore critical to improving young people's health outcomes,' the study said. Alongside mental health support, trusts provide services such as health visiting, speech and language therapy, neurodevelopmental services and autism assessment.
Health leaders have warned that crippling waits for NHS care threaten to create a 'forgotten generation' of children and young people 82 per cent of trusts it surveyed were unable to meet the demand for under-18s' support, a report for NHS providers found Leaders at almost all of the 95 trusts surveyed said the demand for children and young people's services had increased compared .