Metric permalink
Children's mental-health caseload
Part of the Childhood and Social Floor domain. Number of children and young people with an open referral to NHS Children and Young People's Mental Health Services, a measure of demand pressure on the service.
Latest data
Latest reading
June 2026
A higher reading is treated as worse for this indicator.
Score composition
Stress score
Blended from three components: (60% weight), trend (30% weight) and volatility (10% weight). Full formula on the methodology page.
Level · 60% weight
Bounds: scored against fixed best/worst limits, used until a metric has about eight years of verified data to rank against.
Trend · 30% weight
Measured from the direction and size of the change between the two most recent readings.
Volatility · 10% weight
9Measured from how much this indicator has swung period on period across its recorded history.
Data confidence and provenance
Confidence and source
How much weight to put on the reading, the mean data-confidence across the component metrics (source quality, recency and completeness).
Source
Children and young people's mental health statistics
- Update frequency
- Monthly
- Reliability
- medium
Provenance
- Provider
- NHS England (Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics)
- Series ID
- CYP in contact with mental health services
- Frequency
- monthly
- Accessed
- 13 August 2026
Known weakness
Published as 'in contact with services' (open referrals), which includes those receiving care as well as those waiting: not a pure waiting list; counting methodologies vary across NHS trusts.
Notes
Verified official value from NHS England (Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics) (CYP in contact with mental health services), accessed 2026-08-13.
Historical values
History
| Period | Value | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 521 | |
| Apr 2026 | 521 | |
| May 2026 | 528 | |
| June 2026 | 539 |