One consultant psychiatrist for every 2,500 people who will experience a mental illness each year in England, latest census shows

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People who have a mental illness are unable to access vital care and treatment due to 'unsustainable' staff shortages, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) is warning today.

Consultant psychiatrists are being pushed to their 'breaking point' by unmanageable workloads as RCPsych’s new census reveals one in seven consultant posts are vacant in England (748 out of 5,193 consultants).

These workforce shortages mean there is only one consultant psychiatrist for every 12,700 people in England, leaving many without the support they need.This equates to one for every 2,540 people expected to experience a mental illness each year.

The census shows that 14% of consultant psychiatrist posts across England were vacant at the end of March 2025, up from 10% in 2021 and 6% in 2015. In total, more than a quarter (27%, 1,417) of posts were unfilled or covered by locums as services are increasingly forced to rely on temporary staff.

The highest consultant vacancy rates among specific areas of psychiatry were 20% for eating disorder posts, 17% for general adult posts and 16% for child and adolescent posts.

There is significant regional variation, with consultant vacancy rates of 18% in the North compared to 11% in the South.

Psychiatrists are being overwhelmed by unmanageable workloads because services don’t have the staff they need to meet local demand. This is contributing to burnout and causing clinicians to work part-time, take early retirement or switch careers.

We are concerned that the UK Government’s commitment to recruit 8,500 additional mental health staff does not explicitly include a significant number of consultant psychiatrist posts. We need re-affirmed commitments to double medical school places, forecasts for the growth of the psychiatric workforce and action to address bottlenecks in medical training pathways.

RCPsych is also calling on the UK Government to ensure measures are put in place to keep psychiatrists in the profession. This includes providing them with access to comprehensive mental health and wellbeing support, administrative support, working technology and adequate space.

We need to see these measures included as part of the forthcoming workforce plan in England.

Dr Lade Smith CBE, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:

“We have seen new referrals to mental health services rise from 4.4 million to 5.5 million a year since 2021, yet workforce growth has slowed in the last couple of years. It is clearly not sustainable to have one in seven consultant psychiatrist posts vacant if we want to deliver the care and treatment these patients so desperately need.

“I see it every day; psychiatrists are being pushed to breaking point as they work to compensate for these unacceptable workforce shortages. It is particularly concerning to see that eating disorder and children and young people’s services are so understaffed as three quarters of mental illness occurs by the age of 24.

“Clinicians work in high-stress environments where decisions directly affect patient safety and outcomes. They need to have colleagues they can rely on if they are to effectively care for their patients.

“The College has published a retention charter which outlines how measures to keep psychiatrists in the profession could be implemented in detail and this should be taken into consideration.

“What we need is for Government to address this situation as a matter of urgency by including long-term measures to recruit and retain more psychiatrists in the upcoming workforce plan for England. We’ve provided the tools, and are keen to work with Government to get this right now and for the future.”