Rates of acute mental health presentations in youth were increasing pre-pandemic internationally. Longitudinal studies following COVID-19 attest to ongoing deterioration in youth mental health, recognising adverse unintended consequences following public health restrictions.

To examine whether the initial post-COVID-19 increase in mental health presentations persisted following the reclassification of COVID-19 to endemic status, accompanied by the removal of most restrictions.

All referrals to paediatric liaison psychiatry (PLP) between January 2018 and December 2022 in a Dublin tertiary children's hospital were included in the study. An interrupted time series analysis with autoregressive integrated moving average models was conducted, examining referrals with respect to different phases of COVID-19 and application of public health restrictions.

Some 1385 referrals to PLP were received over the 5-year study. There was a significant decrease in PLP referrals immediately post-COVID-19, followed by a significant and sustained increase as the pandemic progressed and moved to endemic status. Public health restriction phases had a unique effect on those presenting with suicidal ideation, with a significant increase in the number of referrals. There was no effect of restrictions on other clinical profiles.

Increased referrals for youth with mental health difficulties, reported during the COVID-19 pandemic, persisted into the early endemic stage, after COVID-19 public health restrictions ceased. Specific impacts of restrictions on suicidal ideation referrals require further study. Investment in child and adolescent mental health services remains a priority, and future pandemic response strategies need to examine unintended consequences of any enforced public health measure.

This national pre-pandemic survey compared demand and capacity of adult community eating disorder services (ACEDS) with NHS England (NHSE) commissioning guidance.

Thirteen services in England and Scotland responded (covering 10.7 million population). Between 2016–2017 and 2019–2020 mean referral rates increased by 18.8%, from 378 to 449/million population. Only 3.7% of referrals were from child and adolescent eating disorder services (CEDS-CYP), but 46% of patients were aged 18–25 and 54% were aged >25. Most ACEDS had waiting lists and rationed access. Many could not provide full medical monitoring, adapt treatment for comorbidities, offer assertive outreach or provide seamless transitions. For patient volume, the ACEDS workforce budget was 15%, compared with the NHSE workforce calculator recommendations for CEDS-CYP. Parity required £7 million investment/million population for the ACEDS.

This study highlights the severe pressure in ACEDS, which has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Substantial investment is required to ensure NHS ACEDS meet national guidance, offer evidence-based treatment, reduce risk and preventable deaths, and achieve parity with CEDS-CYP.