Recurring concern
Insufficient mental health service capacity for timely patient care
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Request correctionFirst reported 14 Aug 2013•Latest report 24 Oct 2025
What this concern includes
Includes failures of funding, staffing, recruitment, retention, service capacity or resource resilience that are explicitly tied to the ability of mental health services to provide timely and safe patient care, including psychiatric units, CAMHS, older-age psychiatric teams and comparable mental health services.
Not included
- Excludes generic workforce, funding or resource deficiencies without an explicit mental health service safety impact.
- Excludes delays or access failures in a specific mental health pathway when the wider service-capacity deficiency is not identified.
- Excludes non-mental-health services, including police, ambulance, epilepsy, maternity, social-care and general hospital capacity concerns.
- Excludes deficiencies in a separately named mental health system or pathway where that named concern provides the more specific supported boundary, unless the assertion also directly identifies inadequate overall mental health service capacity.
- Reports
- 40
- Individual concerns
- 48
- Date range
- 2013–2025
- Stated actions
- 87
Distinct published reports
A report can raise multiple concerns
First to latest report issue date
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.
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.
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Concerns raised1
Under-funding of mental health services creating a risk of future deaths
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Commission independent system modelling to identify solutions and investment priorities for mental-health demand and capacity.
Stated by NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board -
Action
Provide additional investment to expand commissioned mental-health service capacity and provision.
Stated by NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.3
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Position
Funding is not the sole cause of the identified failures, and the link between funding and the deaths cannot currently be validated.
Stated by NHS England
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Position
The Clinical Commissioning Group will lead the shared demand analysis needed to assess demand, capacity and funding constraints.
Stated by NHS England -
Position
There is currently no evidence that insufficient funding contributed to the deaths.
Stated by NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board
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Concerns raised1
Failure to ensure mental health professionals have manageable caseloads
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.2
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Position
Individual NHS trusts are responsible for determining staffing numbers and types and ensuring sufficient trained and competent staff.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
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Position
Existing CQC registration requirements already require providers to deploy sufficient suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
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Concerns raised1
Underfunding of mental health services for children and young people in Cumbria
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Make an additional £1.4 billion available to improve mental health services for children and young people, including £150 million for eating disorders.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care -
Action
Make over £300 million in additional funding available after the consultation.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
-
Position
Commissioning mental health services in Cumbria is the responsibility of local NHS commissioners.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
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Concerns raised1
Insufficient resilience of psychiatric cover at Chelmsford prison
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Assess the resilience of psychiatric care at HMP Chelmsford.
Stated by NHS England
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Psychiatric provision at HMP Chelmsford was considered sufficient because an independent health needs assessment found it met the population’s needs.
Stated by NHS England
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Concerns raised2
Inadequate mental health staffing and psychiatric referral provision
Lack of suitable psychiatric care facilities
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Maintain nationally specified integrated stepped mental-health care, including consultant psychiatry, long-term care planning and continuity of care.
Stated by NHS England -
Action
Work with specialised commissioning teams and partner organisations to address the shortage of secure psychiatric beds and delays transferring acutely unwell prisoners.
Stated by NHS England
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Specialised Commissioning teams are responsible for secure mental health provision, including addressing shortages affecting transfers of acutely unwell prisoners.
Stated by NHS England
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Concerns raised1
Insufficient resourcing of the psychiatric unit
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Fill vacancies and improve staffing capacity to reduce assessment waiting times.
Stated by Leicester City Council -
Action
Increase outpatient appointment capacity through a programme maximizing use of clinical appointment slots.
Stated by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
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Concerns raised1
Lack of resources for mental health response
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Complete the review of the Escalation Policy to improve risk identification, patrol allocation and supervisory escalation when resources are unavailable.
Stated by Greater Manchester Police
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Concerns raised1
Inadequate CAMHS staffing numbers
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 concernsEach 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
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Action
Increase CAMHS staffing from 45 to 63 and improve skill mix through development plans.
Stated by North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised1
Under-resourcing of HTT and liaison psychiatry services with medically qualified personnel
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 concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.2
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Position
Liaison Psychiatry under-resourcing is primarily a matter for the Trust’s commissioners, not internal Trust resource allocation.
Stated by South West London and St George'S Mental Health NHS Trust
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Position
The implication that only medically qualified staff can make accurate Liaison Psychiatry assessments is not accepted.
Stated by South West London and St George'S Mental Health NHS Trust
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Concerns raised1
Insufficient mental health practitioner staffing capacity
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
Data last updated 7 September 2026