NHS mental health dashboard

The NHS mental health dashboard brings together key data from across mental health services to measure the performance of the NHS in delivering our ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

The dashboard provides transparency in assessing how NHS mental health services are performing, alongside technical details explaining how mental health services are funded and delivered.

The most recent version of the dashboard includes the latest data available up to and including quarter 3 of the 2024/25 financial year.

Mental health services funding and investment ambitions

Evaluating progress on mental health funding and investment

  • Since 2015/16, the NHS in England has met its commitment to achieve the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS).
  • 2024/25 total planned spend on mental health MHIS is £11.79 billion. In 2023/24 actual spend mental health MHIS was £11.31 billion.
  • In 2024/25 total planned spend on learning disability, autism and dementia was £3.95 billion, compared to £3.83 billion in 2023/24.
  • 2024/25 planned spend shows the proportion of spend at integrated care board (ICB) level on mental health (including learning disability, autism and dementia) against base allocation of 14.5%, which is comparable to 14.5% in 2023/24 and an increase from 13.8% in 2021/22 (financial year from which allocations are on the same basis).
  • Spending across mental health services (specialised commissioning and ICB combined, including learning disability, autism and dementia) is planned to increase to £18.22 billion in 2024/25 compared to £17.64 billion in 2023/24. This continues the annual increase in spend achieved each year from £12.51 billion in 2018/19.

Mental health service ambitions

The investment and ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan were intended to expand access and deliver timely, high quality mental health support. Further detail on the full set of ambitions is set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Evaluating progress in mental health service ambitions

The NHS mental health dashboard presents activity and implementation data for a range of NHS Long Term Plan ambitions with a summary of progress against the key ambitions set out in the table below.

Ambition Progress in quarter 3 (October 2024 to December 2024)
At least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 accessing support via NHS funded mental health services and school or college-based mental health support teams. The number of under 18s receiving at least 1 contact with NHS funded mental health services in 2024/25 (12 month rolling metric) was 812,185 which is an additional 298,221 contacts since the start of the NHS Long Term Plan (against a baseline of 513,964). This is an increase on the previous quarter (798,479).
Children and young people (CYP) eating disorder waiting times – achieve and maintain standard of 95% 63.8% of CYP with an urgent need started treatment within 1 week (a decrease of 11.9 percentage points from 75.7% in quarter 2 2024/25).

79.4% of CYP started treatment for a routine case within 4 weeks (up 3.4 percentage points from 76.0% in quarter 2 2024/25).
Specialist perinatal mental health service access to reach 66,000 In 2014, fewer than 15% of localities provided specialist perinatal mental health services for women with complex or severe conditions at the full level recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, and more than 40% provided no service at all. Since April 2019, there has been a specialist community perinatal mental health service in every ICS area of England.
In quarter 3 2024/25, access to specialist perinatal mental health services, including maternal mental health services, increased to 63,283 women compared to 60,637 women in quarter 2 2024/25.
176,000 people to receive a course of treatment in NHS talking therapies in quarter 2, 2024/25 (75% of patients to be seen within 6 weeks) The number of patients finishing a course of treatment was 163,798 in quarter 3 2024/25 (a decrease from 173,064 in quarter 2 2024/25).
Of those that finished a course of treatment in quarter 3 2024/25 91.6% started treatment within 6 weeks, exceeding the national target.
Access to community mental health services for adults and older adults with severe mental illness (SMI)

1. Increase overall access year on year.

2. 400,000 people with SMI to access new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care in 2024/25.

 Overall access to all community mental health services for adults and older adults was 647,380 in quarter 3 2024/25. This is an increase of 3% from quarter 2 2024/25 (629,567).

Access to new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care was 591,368 in quarter 3 2024/25. This is an increase of 3.8% from 569,254 in quarter 2 2024/25 and exceeds the target for 2024/25.
40,500 people with severe or complex mental health problems to access individual placement and support (IPS) employment services by 2024/25. 41,260 people accessed IPS services for severe mental illness in the 12 months to the end of quarter 3 2024/25 and exceeds the target for 2024/25. This is an increase of 49% since quarter 3 2023/24.
Reduce inequalities by working towards 75% of people with severe mental illness receiving a full annual physical health check, with at least 60% receiving one by March 2025. In quarter 3 2024/25, 59% of people with SMI received an annual physical health check, compared to 57% in quarter 2 2024/25.
Every area in England will offer access to comprehensive all age crisis care services via NHS 111 ‘select mental health’ option by 2023/24 The NHS has achieved all its crisis care commitments, providing individuals with access to: 24/7 age-appropriate crisis care via NHS 111 ‘select mental health’ option; comprehensive crisis resolution home treatment services for adults; continuous provision for children and young people; and a range of alternative crisis services.