Cost of emergency hospital admissions to acute general wards for mental health problems among children and young people in England, 2012-2022: a retrospective observational study

Objectives To examine trends in the frequency and costs of emergency hospital admissions in acute wards for mental health conditions among children and young people in England between 2012 and 2022 and to assess socioeconomic and geographic disparities in these costs. Design Retrospective observational cohort study using routinely collected administrative data.

Setting Secondary care acute wards; analysis includes all National Health Service (NHS) hospital admissions in England. Participants All emergency hospital admissions in acute wards for individuals aged 5 - 18 years with a primary or secondary mental health diagnosis recorded between 2012 and 2022.

Exclusion criteria included admissions without a mental health diagnosis or outside the defined age range. Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcomes were the annual number and total cost of mental health-related emergency admissions.

Secondary outcomes included length of stay, diagnostic categories contributing to cost, and variation by socioeconomic deprivation and geographic location. Results Between 2012 and 2022, the total cost of emergency admissions for mental health among children and young people rose markedly, driven by increases in both admission rates and length of stay.