Mental Health Waiting Times Plummet In Stoke For Children And Adults
The average waiting time to see a mental health specialist in Stoke has plummeted in the last few years for both children and adults.
The average waiting time following initial referral from a GP appointment to seeing a specialist mental health service in Stoke has dropped from 159 to 65 days for children since 2015.
As a result, children in the town are now being referred 60% faster than they were five years ago. Instead of waiting over five months, last year they instead waited just over two months.
The average referral waiting time has also decreased for adults, from 85 days in 2015 to 29 days in 2019. Adults waited 81 day on average in 2016, 66 days in 2017 and 49 days in 2018. This indicates waiting times fell from around three months to one month.
The data was provided by North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, following the submission of a Freedom of Information request from media literacy charity The Student View.
In 2016, children were waiting even longer to see a specialist, as in this year the average wait was 189 days. The following year, 2017, the wait dropped by over half, to 71 days, and then again to 56 in 2018.
The number of inpatient beds for both children and adults has stayed almost consistent over the same time frame, standing at 15 for children in both 2015 and 2019 and falling by three for adults, to 146, over the five year time frame.