Children’s treatment for mental health hit by delays
DELAYS to mental health services for children have rocketed during the pandemic.
The Scottish Government set a target for 90 per cent of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) patients to be seen within 18 weeks.
But new figures show youngsters have been kept waiting for almost 2.5million days longer than they should have over the past four years.
The number of days of delay has already soared to 1.23million in the 2020-21 financial year so far, compared with 691,000 in the whole of 2019-20.
The rise in delays, which has been branded a ‘scandal’, comes after concerns were raised about the impact school closures and lockdown restrictions will have had on the mental health of children.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, health spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: ‘Children needing mental health help in Scotland have been left waiting 2.5million more days than they should have. ‘That’s a scandal. ‘It’s widely acknowledged that the next major public health problem coming down the tracks will take the form of mental health problems, and these statistics prove we’re not ready.
‘The system is under immense strain. For years vulnerable children across Scotland have been subjected to harrowing long waits for help. The pandemic and the backlog in appointments it has caused will only make this mountain harder to climb.’
Mr Cole-Hamilton added: ‘ We desperately need to see transformational investment in Scotland’s mental health services.
‘Our NHS staff do an incredible job, but they need more money, staff and resources behind them to make sure this runs smoothly and no one falls through the gaps.’
‘Behind each of these numbers is a family racked with worry about a young person who is not doing well. The Government has a duty to invest in this and ensure they get help when they ask for it, not many months later.’
The figures, released by health boards following a freedom of information request from the Lib Dems, show children and young people waited a combined 274,954 days above the target in 2017-18, rising to 392,173 in 2018-19, 691,403 in 2019-20 and 1,127,735 in 2020-21 so far. In the current year, NHS Lothian had the largest number of delays, at 486,395 days, followed by 235,358 at Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 144,869 at Forth Valley, 111,328 at NHS Highland and 104,168 at NHS Lanarkshire.
The only health board with no delays beyond the target was Western Isles, followed by Dumfries and Galloway, at 767 days, and Shetland, at 1,316 days.
A paper by the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 advisory subgroup on education and children’s issues, published in November, concluded that the consequences of closing schools would be devastating for young people’s welfare and education.
It said: ‘There is clear evidence that time out of school has a detrimental effect on children and young people’s wellbeing, including impacts on developmental and mental health harms. Evidence suggests the mental health of adolescents is particularly affected.’
However, the Scottish Government said it has been ‘working closely with all boards over this period to plan the recovery of CAMHS services across Scotland and to help individual NHS boards respond effectively to the anticipated increase in demand in the months ahead’.
It added: ‘We have provided an additional £ 15million to l ocal authorities to respond to children and young people’s mental health i ssues, with a focus on those brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Part of this funding will also support local authorities to develop and implement community mental health and wellbeing services and supports.’
‘System under immense strain’