Fall in hospital admissions for stress and anxiety in east Lancashire
Fewer hospital admissions for stress and anxiety were recorded in east Lancashire in 2023-24, new figures show.
This is despite a significant increase across England.
NHS figures show there were about 3,945 hospital admissions, which resulted in an anxiety diagnosis in the NHS East Lancashire area in 2023-24 – down from 4,570 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, admissions with a stress diagnosis decreased from roughly 210 in 2022-23 to 180 in 2023-24.
The figures are rounded to the nearest five.
Across England, some 1.2 million hospital admissions recorded an anxiety diagnosis in 2023-24, a 17% jump from the year before.
Admissions for stress increased 22%, with 111,300 diagnoses.
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, a health think tank, said the rise is a "continuation of a post-pandemic trend".
Researcher Stuti Bagri 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.
"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 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."