Inequalities in mental health service utilisation by children and young people: a population survey using linked electronic health records from Northwest London, UK.

Background: Mental healthcare services for children and young people (CYP) are a very limited resource in the UK. To prevent health inequalities, measures to increase overall capacity must sit alongside measures that ensure utilisation matches need.

Aim: Our aim was to identify subgroups of CYP with unexpectedly low mental health service utilisation, presumably representing unmet need, and to assess whether there is area variation in the socioeconomic gradient of mental healthcare use.