The number of monthly referrals to mental health services in Oxfordshire have surged during the pandemic.

Latest figures show that in the county there was a 26 per cent increase in referrals to mental health services between January 2020 and March 2021.

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There has also been an 89 per cent increase in the average monthly referrals to urgent crisis care.

Lesley Dewhurst, CEO of Oxfordshire-based mental health charity Restore, has witnessed the rise in people needing help.

She said: "There's no question that the last 18 months has had a significant impact on the whole population so the fact that there's an increase in referrals is something that we can testify, it's true for Restore as well. We're part of a mental health partnership which delivers all the mental health services for adults across Oxfordshire and we would all say that we've seen an increase in referrals over that period.

"Of course there was a bit of a lull at first because people were isolating at home and storing things up and I think that's always such a big problem when people store up things and then it comes out further down the line."

Urgent crisis care referrals are made when a patient is suffering a more serious mental health crisis and need help faster than they would get through a normal referral route.

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In Oxfordshire, the average monthly urgent crisis care referrals made between April 2019 and April 2020 was eight, while between May 2020 and March 2021 it was 15.

In England, these referrals are at their highest levels in two years.

In February 2020, 2,900 referrals to mental health services were made in Oxfordshire, whereas in March 2021, 3,650 were made.

Restore continued providing support throughout the pandemic virtually. It checked in with people at least once a week and held virtual group activities such as cooking.

Ms Dewhurst added: "We carried on through that time but it's been much more difficult for people. So I think now it's about trying to get to grips with the aftermath really, trying to tackle the backlog, the waiting lists and trying to reach out to people in different ways."

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She said anxiety is particularly having an effect on people's mental health at the moment, with fear, loneliness and isolation impacting people's mood.

Ms Dewhurst said: "For us to encourage people to come back and participate, to interact and be with other people has been really helpful."

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