NHS Lothian oversight reduced after mental health service improvements

Oversight from NHS officials has been loosened at one of the country’s biggest health boards after improvements in mental health performance.

NHS Lothian had previously been moved to stage three of the Scottish Government’s escalation framework, which among other requirements forces bosses to agree a recovery plan with ministers.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson said the escalation, which was announced in 2019, was reversed on Friday following improvements to child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) and improved waiting times for psychological therapies.

According to the Government, 96 young people were waiting longer than one year for treatment at the end of November – down from 547, an 82.4% drop, in December 2021.

The number of people waiting the same length of time for psychological therapies decreased by 22.6% – from 5,082 to 3,933 – between the end of November and the same time the previous year.

Mr Matheson said: “Escalating a health board is never done lightly and, following progress to improve the provision of mental health services, care and support, I am pleased that we are now able to de-escalate NHS Lothian. This is a positive step forward.

“Staff have worked hard to support the improvement work while delivering high-quality patient care.

“It has been a challenging time for them, as well as patients and families, and support for the board will continue to improve services even further for patients.”

The health board will remain in level two of escalation, which the Government said means the implementation of a local recovery plan and increased surveillance.