More hospital admissions for stress and anxiety were recorded in north central London in 2023-24, new figures show.
By Sonja Tutty, Data Reporter
More hospital admissions for stress and anxiety were recorded in north central London in 2023-24, new figures show.
The Nuffield Trust, a health think tank, warned people cannot access the support they need as NHS mental health services are struggling to meet demand.
NHS figures show there were about 34,945 hospital admissions which resulted in a diagnosis of anxiety in the NHS North Central London area in 2023-24 – up from 31,180 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, admissions with a diagnosis of stress also increased from roughly 2,560 in 2022-23 to 2,800 in 2023-24.
The figures are rounded to the nearest five.
Across England, some 1.2 million hospital admissions recorded a diagnosis of anxiety in 2023-24, a 17% jump from the year before.
Admissions for stress similarly increased 22%, with 111,300 diagnoses in the recent year.
Diagnoses of anxiety include a range of anxiety disorders, while stress can range from general stress to post-traumatic stress disorder. Throughout the year, a person can have multiple admissions and multiple diagnoses.
The Nuffield Trust said the rise is a “continuation of a post-pandemic trend”.
Stuti Bagri, a researcher at the think tank, added: “While there are many factors driving this increase, a problem that is shared by people across the country is that they simply can’t access the support they need.
“Stress and anxiety can massively affect people’s quality of life, so it’s really important that the NHS can provide reliable mental health services.”
She said: “NHS Talking Therapies is England’s flagship programme for supporting people with common mental health issues, but the service has a high drop-out rate and is struggling to meet demand.
“Our analysis found that in 2023-24, only 17% of all referrals to the service completed treatment and reliably recovered.
“Improving access to services like this in the community and the NHS 111 mental health service – which has a patchy response rate – will be key to getting people the mental health care they need before their condition worsens.”
An NHS England spokesperson said: “NHS staff are working hard to manage record demand with the rollout of 24/7 mental health centres in the heart of communities and millions of pupils accessing NHS support in the classroom, so that people can get help quickly which reduces the need for hospital stays.
“We are also expanding our world-leading talking therapies service which provides evidence-based mental health support to more than a million people a year, with nine in ten patients receiving support within six weeks.”
