Fif th of children refused mental health treatment

ONE in five children seeking mental health treatment was ‘swiftly’ rejected without faceto-face assessments, according to a damning report.

Hundreds of youngsters were denied specialist treatment through child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the first three months of this year.

Yesterday it was revealed some had been turned away as they were not deemed to be ill enough because they had not tried to commit suicide, while others attempted to take their life after being rejected by medics.

Incoming Health Secretary Jeane Freeman attacked the system, calling it ‘completely unacceptable’, and announced a taskforce to reshape CAMHS.

The report was published by the Scottish Government and follows an audit which revealed thou- sands were being turned away by medics. The document states: ‘It is clear that many children, young people and their families who are rejected do have genuine and in some cases urgent need for help.’

Ministers were accused of trying to dodge questions by releasing the figures only a day after parliament broke up for the summer.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: ‘The findings of this report are quite shocking.

‘The evidence that children were deemed not ill enough to merit treatment, even when they are self-harming, is a matter of grave concern. Tough questions need to be answered on why this report was published the day after parliament went into recess.’

The report states that ‘the most common reason cited by young people for their referral being rejected is that their case was not serious enough’. It added: ‘This leads to a belief that, unless the child or young person is suicidal or at immediate risk of harm, they will not be seen.’

One parent said their child had been refused help because they did not ‘have an eating disorder, he hasn’t committed suicide or tried to commit suicide’.

A child said she was told her suicide attempt was ‘me attention-seeking’, while another youngster said: ‘If I got the help I needed then when I got rejected, I probably wouldn’t have had as many suicide attempts.’

Figures show 285 children, or one in five of those who sought treatment, were refused in the first three months of this year.

Of those turned away, 22 were under the age of five, 139 were aged 5-11, 83 were between 11 and 15, and 35 were 16 and 17.

Four of the youngsters were 18, while an age was not recorded for the remaining children.