First reported 31 Jan 2014•Latest report 4 Mar 2026
Definition
What this concern includes
Includes excessive or unsafe waiting times within NHS mental health services, including delays in referral assessment, waiting-list prioritisation, psychological therapy, psychotherapy or other necessary mental health treatment, where the report identifies the delay as a safety concern.
Not included
Excludes waiting times for non-mental-health services such as elective surgery, endoscopy, cardiology or emergency-department assessment.
Excludes generic staffing, bed-capacity, funding or escalation deficiencies unless they are explicitly tied to excessive waiting times within NHS mental health services.
Excludes failures in communication, assessment, referral handling or treatment quality that do not involve excessive access delays.
Reports
33
Distinct published reports
Individual concerns
37
A report can raise multiple concerns
Date range
2014–2026
First to latest report issue date
Stated actions
77
Described in published responses
Reports over time
Reports over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Department of Health and Social Care18
NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board8
NHS England5
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust3
North East London NHS Foundation Trust2
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust2
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges1
Aneurin Bevan University LHB1
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust1
Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust1
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust1
Cambridgeshire County Council1
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health Board1
Department for Education1
Ministerial department18
NHS trust14
Integrated care board9
Executive non-departmental public body5
Healthcare site2
Local health board2
Clinical commissioning group1
Devolved government1
English county council1
Health professional body1
Health-system partnership1
Independent healthcare provider1
Professional body1
Concerns and responses across reports
Only concerns grouped under this recurring concern are included. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.
Manchester South
Concerns raised1
Delays in assessment and referral for urgent mental health referrals
This report raised 1 other concern. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.2
Action
Hold an urgent-care away day to review and confirm the HBTT SOP and reinforce referral pathways and operational expectations, including direct referrals by primary care networks.
Stated by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation TrustStated plannedThe respondent said that this action was planned when they made their response on 9 March 2026.
Action
Establish a functioning Referral and Assessment hub in every Trust area by the end of August 2026 to provide a single external referral point.
Stated by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation TrustStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 9 March 2026.
Manchester South
Concerns raised1
Insufficient commissioned capacity for timely mental health therapy support
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.4
Action
Use benchmarking to map psychological-therapy provision gaps and inform long-term commissioning plans.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care BoardStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 16 April 2025.
Action
Explore targeted recruitment, training and retention measures to increase the psychological-therapy workforce.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care BoardStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 16 April 2025.
Action
Review and evolve commissioning practices to better align psychological-therapy provision with population needs.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care BoardStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 16 April 2025.
Action
Commission Kooth and Qwell online platforms to provide free, anonymous, clinically supervised mental-health support.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care BoardStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 16 April 2025.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
Position
Commissioned psychological therapy capacity cannot currently meet all identified need because of longstanding underinvestment and financial constraints.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care BoardUnable to actThe respondent said that a constraint prevented them from taking the relevant action.
West Yorkshire (Western)
Concerns raised1
Delays in access to psychological therapy
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statements
No respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
Northamptonshire
Concerns raised1
Delays in psychological assessment
This report raised 5 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
Action
Recruit and specially train 8,500 additional mental health workers, including to support people at risk of suicide.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated plannedThe respondent said that this action was planned when they made their response on 28 July 2026.
Suffolk
Concerns raised1
Delays in access to prescribing mental health practitioners
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
Action
Recruit 8,500 additional, specially trained mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment for people at risk of suicide.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated plannedThe respondent said that this action was planned when they made their response on 31 July 2024.
South Wales Central
Concerns raised1
Delays in access to necessary psychotherapy
This report raised 5 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
Action
Invest resources to address the psychological-therapy waiting-list backlog across primary and secondary mental-health services.
Stated by Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health BoardStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 27 June 2024.
South London
Concerns raised3
Insufficient capacity to safely assess and re-prioritise urgent CAMHS waiting-list patients
Delays in CAMHS treatment
Delays in CAMHS assessment
This report raised 1 other concern. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.2
Action
Invest in the CYPMH workforce and expand NHS mental health support access for children and young people.
Stated by NHS EnglandStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 9 August 2024.
Action
Recruit 8,500 additional staff across children’s and adult mental health services.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated plannedThe respondent said that this action was planned when they made their response on 9 August 2024.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.2
Position
NHS England will address concerns about the keeping in touch team in its response to the report.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareRedirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.
Position
Delivering expanded children’s mental health access ambitions is subject to future funding settlements, with plans to be clarified later.
Stated by NHS EnglandUnable to actThe respondent said that a constraint prevented them from taking the relevant action.
East Sussex
Concerns raised1
Insufficient CAMHS resources causing long waits for treatment
This report raised 7 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
Action
Provide additional funding to local mental-health systems to support waiting-list assessments and care.
Stated by NHS EnglandStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 9 May 2024.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
Position
NHS England strongly refutes the suggestion that assessing gender-service waiting-list patients will pose a risk to other patients.
Stated by NHS EnglandDisputes the concernThe respondent disagreed with part of the concern or the basis for it.
Manchester South
Concerns raised1
Delays in access to mental health support
This report raised 6 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.9
Action
Maintain increased Neighbourhood Mental Health Team capacity through successful recruitment to Senior Mental Health Practitioner posts.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and Tameside Borough CouncilStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Continue recruiting to fill vacancies in the 3.5 therapy pathway.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and Tameside Borough CouncilStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Review the Living Well waiting list to assess needs and divert people to other services where appropriate.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and Tameside Borough CouncilStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Implement the Mental Health Workforce Strategy to identify workforce, skill-mix and service-configuration requirements and deliver workforce supply across Greater Manchester.
Stated by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and Tameside Borough CouncilStated plannedThe respondent said that this action was planned when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Continue delivering Rough Sleeping Initiative funding to support specialist mental health services in local homelessness plans.
Stated by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Support NICE guidance improving access to coordinated, multidisciplinary health and social care for people experiencing homelessness.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Work towards implementing new waiting-time standards for people requiring mental healthcare in emergency departments and community settings.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Embed 24/7 urgent mental health helplines across all areas of the country.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Action
Establish or expand crisis alternative services, including crisis cafes, safe havens and crisis houses, as alternatives to emergency or psychiatric admission.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 20 March 2024.
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Concerns raised1
Delays in access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Exposure Response Prevention
This report raised 8 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
Action
Provide increased mental health investment to expand and transform NHS mental health services.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 12 February 2024.
Action
Grow the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 staff to increase service capacity.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 12 February 2024.
Action
Implement new waiting-time measures for people requiring mental healthcare in emergency departments and the community.
Stated by Department of Health and Social CareStated in progressThe respondent said that this action was in progress when they made their response on 12 February 2024.
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Includes excessive or unsafe waiting times within NHS mental health services, including delays in referral assessment, waiting-list prioritisation, psychological therapy, psychotherapy or other necessary mental health treatment, where the report identifies the delay as a safety concern.
