Child mental health services on ‘right path’, says minister as target met again

Waiting time performance for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has passed its target for the second quarter in a row.

A minister said the service is on the “right path” as figures showed 91.6% of people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral during the first quarter of 2025.

CAMHS first met the 90% target during the final quarter of 2024.

This was the first time the target had been met since its inception in 2014.

Opposition MSPs and charities have often called on the Scottish Government to improve resourcing for child mental health services in order to drive down waits.

However the latest figures from Public Health Scotland also show a drop in waiting time performance for psychological therapies.

During the first three months of 2025, 78.6% of people started their treatment within 18 weeks of referral, compared to 80.4% in the previous quarter

Discussing the CAMHS figures, mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd said: “We want all children and young people to be able to access appropriate mental health treatment as and when they need to, and this continued progress on waiting times is testament to the hard-working staff who care for those referred to these services.

“We have exceeded our promise to provide funding for 320 additional staff for CAMHS by 2026 and this will no doubt have contributed to the improvements we are seeing, but I am well aware there is still much to be done if this is to be sustained and consistent across Scotland.

“However, we are on the right path and the £123.5 million we have allocated to NHS boards this year will mean the quality and delivery of all mental health services – including CAMHS – will continue to improve.”

The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition, a group of charities which help vulnerable children, noted the CAMHS figures also show 164 waits of longer than a year.

A spokesman said: “The latest figures highlighting that 164 children and young people have been waiting over a year for mental health treatment are extremely alarming.

“What we need is not just parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, it’s parity of action and parity of spend.

“We are facing a mental health emergency and many of our children and young people are at breaking point, with stress and anxiety reaching alarming levels as they battle with the long shadow of lockdown and the rising cost of living.”

Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “It is shocking that more than a fifth of Scots are failing to start this crucial treatment on time.

“The SNP have failed to tackle Scotland’s mental health crisis for too long and their dire workforce planning has left frontline staff unable to cope with the growing demand for services.

“These figures should be an urgent wake-up call for (Health Secretary) Neil Gray to guarantee frontline mental health services will have the resources they need, instead of money being squandered on bureaucracy.”