Children seeking mental care failed, says Labour

First Minister challenged over thousands of rejected youths

Thousands of young people in Scotland have been denied mental health treatment during the wait for a national probe into rejected applications.

Nicola Sturgeon was challenged repeatedly at first minister’s questions on her government’s progress in tackling mental health issues.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said the SNP administration had let down vulnerable children by taking more than a year to complete an investigation into why so many youngsters are not getting treatment.

In Tayside and Fife alone, 816 young people have been knocked back by Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) since last March, when the government promised to launch the review. Labour’s analysis of the Scottish Government figures showed the national figure was 5,410.

“Nicola Sturgeon once claimed she had a sacred responsibility to make sure every young person gets the same chance to succeed,” Mr Leonard said. “She has abdicated that responsibility to some of the most vulnerable children in Scotland.”

Ms Sturgeon said the results would be published on June 12, adding there were legitimate reasons why children were not offered CAMHS treatment.

“We announced an audit, we had to plan how that audit was going to happen so that we get it right,” she said.

“The work is now under way and I’ve given the progress report on that.

“It’s important that we get that work right in order that the action that flows from it are the right actions.”

She added that the 2017-18 budget for mental health exceeded £1 billion for the first time, while the CAMHS workforce had increased by 65%.

The FM was also confronted with figures showing 1,000 adults waited more than a year for psychological therapies in 2017-18. Of those, more than 100 were in Tayside, according to the data obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The party’s leader Willie Rennie told FMQs: “The first minister tells us the service that people receive is getting better but the evidence says she is plain wrong.”

Ms Sturgeon said: “We are seeing a growing workforce for the delivery of mental health services, and we are trying to rebalance care away from hospital and general practitioner care into community settings when people would benefit from preventative mental health services.

“All of that work is encapsulated in our mental health strategy, which is backed by additional funding.”