Children and Young people across Northern Ireland continue to face record high delays in accessing Mental Health Services, according to new figures.

In figures published by the Department of Health in September 2026, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) showed a third of referrals waited more than nine weeks.

The figures showed that 1,668 children and young people were waiting for assessment and treatment across Northern Ireland’s H&SC Trusts at the end of September 2026.

Of these 1,668 young people, 629 had been waiting longer than the trust’s nine weeks target, more than a third, representing 37.7% of all cases.

The overall number of young people waiting for CAMHS this year fell by 100, from 1,731 in June 2026, to 1,668 in September 2026.

Within the five H&SC Trusts, Belfast recorded the highest waiting times, with 866 children still awaiting assessment by September this year.

Over half of these referrals waited longer than nine weeks in the Belfast Trust.

In other trusts, the Northern Trust recorded 270 total waiting for CAMHS, with 25 percent of these waiting longer than the nine-week target also.

In the Western Trust showed the most visible improvement in waiting times for young people accessing mental health services. The Western Trust showed that over a two-year period, waiting referrals fell from 415 in September 2024 to 265 in September 2026. Over half of those on waiting lists fell and long waits dropped significantly from 299 to 93.

In contrast, the Southern Trust reported 267 children waiting at the end of September 2026, with only three cases exceeding nine weeks.

Following these statistics, the Department of Health said that comparisons over time should be treated cautiously following the introduction of Northern Ireland’s new electronic patient record system.

A Department of Health spokesperson also said that for children struggling with mental health, improvements were already being made with investment in mental health teams for schools.

Gemma Byrne, of the mental health charity Mind, said the current support wasn’t enough.

She said, “The current system, where many mental health services only provide support when young people are considered ‘unwell enough’ to qualify, clearly isn’t working.

“A&E can be a frightening environment for anyone in mental health crisis, let alone a child. Making them spend more than 12 hours there is simply unacceptable.”