Mental health charities struggling to cope with GP-referral influx

Exclusive: Under-qualified professionals being asked to treat patients in England as NHS leans on third sector

Mental health charities in England are struggling to cope with the number of sick patients referred to them by GPs, with under-qualified professionals increasingly tasked with treating the seriously ill.

Experts told the Guardian that some desperate GPs were signposting" patients to services not always equipped to deal with them.