Seven in 10 Survey Respondents Expect Services to Be Reduced or Shut, While More Than Half Anticipate Job Losses

Millions of adults and children in England face being forced to wait longer for mental health care, with more than two-thirds of NHS providers planning to cut services and half expected to axe jobs, the Guardian can reveal. With mental health services already under extraordinary pressure amid soaring demand for support, experts warned the proposed cuts – drawn up by trusts to plug holes in their finances – would also have “significant” consequences for the wider NHS, the economy and public services. Key services such as child and adolescent mental health care, talking therapies, addiction support, help for adults undergoing a mental health crisis and community programmes, including those for ethnic minorities and low-income groups, are among those that may be affected.

Seven in 10 (68%) NHS trusts providing mental health services are likely to reduce or shut some of their services in 2026-27, according to the results of a national survey conducted by the NHS Alliance and seen by the Guardian. Of respondents, 59% said they expect to freeze vacancies, with more than half (57%) likely to cut the number of clinical staff they employ this year. Earlier this week, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, announced plans to create a network of nearly 200 community mental health centres and mental health A&Es by 2029. Writing on LinkedIn, he said: “These services will make it much easier for people to get the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

Mental health charities welcomed the ambition but said if funding for staff and services was being cut, meaningful improvements to care would be impossible”. One of the NHS mental health trusts affected, East London foundation trust, plans to cut a wide range of services and axe hundreds of jobs to close a £25m hole in its finances, the Guardian reported on Monday. NHS mental health professionals at other trusts said similar plans were being drawn up where they work.

They fear the cuts will strip back services so much that they will not be able to properly perform their duties or guarantee safe care in their areas. An NHS consultant psychiatrist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: This is not an isolated example in east London. Many mental health trusts are in a similar, if not worse, situation and are responding in similar ways through cutting jobs and compromising service delivery.

A mental health service manager at a third NHS mental health trust said: Many mental health trusts are in a similar position. They have faced declining funding for the last couple of years alongside cost reduction targets. Alex Stewart, assistant director of the NHS Alliance’s mental health network, said: Mental health services are coming under extraordinary pressure as a result of rapidly rising demand for care and very tough financial conditions. Despite this, we see many examples of innovation and great care which give real grounds for hope.