Government told to do better over ‘disappointing’ child mental health services

Psychiatrists have called for “sustained” investment in mental health, as “disappointing” figures showed that more than a quarter of children and young people waited longer than the Scottish Government’s target time for specialist help.

The latest figures showed that over April to June 73.8% of patients were seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) within 18 weeks.

That is down from the 74.2% achieved in the first three months of 2023, and is well below the Scottish Government target of having 90% of children and young people start receiving treatment within 18 weeks of being referred.

In the three months to the end of June, data from Public Health Scotland showed 5,093 youngsters started receiving help from Camhs – with this up from 4,920 in the previous quarter, but lower than the total of 5,206 from April to June 2022.

There were 6,667 children and young people waiting to start treatment, with the total number on the waiting list down by 13.4% on the previous quarter, and almost a third (31.5%) lower than it was when compared to April to June last year.

That includes 224 youngsters who have been waiting for a year or more – with the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition branding this “extremely alarming”.

A spokesperson said: “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.

“Each one of these statistics is an individual, and we would urge the Scottish Government to up its game and make the adequate resourcing of mental health services for our children and young people an absolute priority over 2023-24.”

Dr Helen Smith, chair of the Camhs faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, also demanded action from ministers.

Dr Smith said: “These are terribly disappointing statistics which are way off the Scottish Government’s own targets. Our children and young people deserve better. ”

She said: “Investment in mental health support services at all levels needs to be sustained and planned to enable services to meet the increasing demand.

“It’s time for the Scottish Government to now focus and outline how they intend to meet their own goals, which includes using 1% or what is spent on health to support the mental health needs of our young people by 2026.”

The Tories highlighted the Government’s failure to meet the commitment to eliminate Camhs waiting times by the end of March 2023 – saying this had been pledged by Humza Yousaf while he was health secretary.

Conservative deputy health spokesperson, Tess White, said it was “deeply concerning that fewer of our most vulnerable young people are being seen within the SNP’s own target waiting time”.

She added: “For over a quarter of those needing urgent mental health treatment to be waiting over 18 weeks should be a source of shame for SNP ministers.

“They have repeatedly missed these crucial targets and the effects of lockdown have only exacerbated the issues facing many young people.”

However, mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd said it was “encouraging to see continuing progress with Camhs waiting times”.

She stated: “The waiting list for first-time appointments has been reduced by almost a third in the last year, and the number of children waiting over 18 weeks decreased by 66% over the same period. Ten out of 14 boards have now effectively eliminated long waits.”

Ms Todd stressed: “It is vital that all children and young people receive the right support, at the right time.

“This has been made possible by the hard work of the Camhs workforce which has more than doubled, up 126.8 %, under this Government, supported by our record high investments in Camhs.

“We know that Camhs will only be the right service for a small proportion of children and young people.

“To provide an alternative to the service, over the last two years we have invested £30 million in community-based mental health supports for children, young people and their families.

“Local authorities report that 45,000 people accessed those services between July and December last year.”