Youngsters ‘unforgivably failed’ as 500,000 turn to A&E in mental health crisis

Concerns have been raised about the number of children and young people attending A&E in mental health crisis (Alamy/PA) -

Around 500,000 children and young people in England have attended emergency departments in mental health crisis since 2019, new research has suggested.

Nurses said that A&E is “not the right environment for kids in crisis”, with one speaking of “some real near misses” as distressed teenage patients wait to be seen in the same area as babies.