New figures reveal thousands of children and young people in Oldham have needed support from mental health services over the last 12 months.

NHS Digital figures show 3,110 children and young people had at least one contact with mental health services in the NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group area in the 12 months to May.

This was up from 3,095 in April and is a nine per cent increase from the 2,860 in July last year.

YoungMinds, a mental health charity that supports children, said the figures are “harrowing” as students endured examinations for the first time since the pandemic this year and have only just received their A-level and GCSE exam results.

The charity said increasing pressure at school, coupled with the impact of lockdowns during the pandemic, has affected the mental well-being of children and has resulted in a huge number of youngsters needing support across the country.

The national figures show the number of children who had at least one contact with mental health services in the last 12 months rose by 21 per cent, from 570,000 in the year to March 2021 to 690,000 in the year to May.

The figures also reveal the number of children and young people still in touch with mental health services by the end of May topped 400,000 for the first time – of which 1,365 were in Oldham which is an increase from the 1,290 in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the number of children waiting for support across the country has also reached a new high in May when there were 460,000 open referrals.

In Oldham, an estimated 1,405 children were waiting to be seen at the end of May after being referred by a GP or health professional.

Olly Parker, head of external affairs at YoungMinds, said: "The pandemic has certainly deepened the crisis in young people’s mental health, with huge disruption to students’ education, many of whom were also dealing with multiple pressures like difficult home environments, bereavement and other trauma."

Mr Parker also said schools lack the resources to support the well-being of their students who have felt worried about their exams since returning to school after the pandemic.

He added: “The reality is that month after month we are seeing devastating new records of young people struggling to get treatment and support for their mental health, and month after month, we are left waiting for the Government to take action and end this intensifying crisis."

The Department for Health and Social Care said supporting children's mental health is a "major priority" and that it invested £79 million in 2021-22 to expand services to support more than 22,000 children and young people.

A spokesperson added it is expanding mental health support teams to cover 3 million pupils by 2024 and is increasing investment in services by at least £2.3 billion per year by 2024.

The Greater Manchester Integrated Health and Social Care Partnership, which has taken over from Oldham CCG, has been approached for comment.