Young people failed over mental health
Six out of 10 young people are waiting over 18 weeks for a mental health consultation from NHS Lothian.
The latest month of statistics released by Public Health Scotland reveals an alarming 147 out of 247 patients waited over four and a half months.
This is a 59.5 per cent of patients and a spike of almost 10 per cent from the month previous when 49.7 per cent of patients waited 18 weeks to be seen by a mental health professional.
The figures also showed that as of June 2020 there are 2482 young people waiting to be seen in Edinburgh and the Lothians, with a record 472 waiting for over a year - 19 per cent.
Since the global health pandemic the number of referrals for mental health services at NHS Lothian has dropped.
In April to June 2020, there were 825 CAMHS referrals, with 109 rejected, making a total of 706 new referrals.
This is compared to 1659 referrals in January to March 2020, with 382 referrals rejected, making a total of 1277 new referrals.
Professor Alex McMahon, director of nursing, midwifery and AHP’s for NHS Lothian, said: “Waiting times for our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have been longer than they should be, and before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were working hard to address this. The restrictions
which have been put in place in response to Covid-19 have unfortunately led to longer waiting times than before.
“We would like to offer our assurance that we are working hard to address this, by redesigning some of our processes, continually increasing our clinical capacity and developing new ways of working, such as providing both virtual and face-to-face treatment options.”
Conservative list MSP for Lothian, Miles Briggs, said: “These figures reinforce the mental health crisis for young people in NHS Lothian with exceptionally long waits to be seen by a mental health professional.
“Mental Health professionals in NHS Lothian work incredibly hard to support young people who are struggling with their mental health, but services are simply not being properly resourced to meet demand.
“Lockdown, Covid-19 restrictions and failures by SNP Ministers over SQA results will all have added to stresses for young people making mental health support even more important.”
Labour list MSP for Lothian Neil Findlay said: “The mental health crisis before Covid was bad enough now it is on a different level. Young people and their families need support now not in six months or a year’s time. The Scottish Government must increase resources in this sector to prevent a mental health catastrophe.”
Almond Valley MSP Angela Constance added: “There is no doubt that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on young people as well as older people and that health inequalities have been exacerbated.
“With the restarting of health services paused due to the pandemic we will see a remobilisation of the ambitious plans to reform and expand mental health services for children and young people.”
These figures reinforce the mental health crisis