64 suicides... as system ‘fails young people’

THOUSANDS of children seeking vital mental health treatment are potentially at risk after being turned away from a struggling system that is ‘complex and fragmented’, a damning report has found.

Auditors have demanded a dramatic overhaul of services for young people and adolescents after it was revealed 64 people aged between 15 and 24 committed suicide in Scotland last year.

The investigation into child and adolescent mental health services found that youngsters are being ‘bounced between’ services amid confusion over who is responsible for referring them for vital treatment as waiting times increase.

And it raised concerns that some children were being allowed to ‘drop out of the system’ because of pressure on services.

The Auditor General and Accounts Commission also warned about the lack of services in some areas of the country, and the ‘high threshold’ for children being referred to specialists. The report, published today, found that before young people aged up to 24 can be referred to specialists they must be ‘at risk of causing serious harm to themselves or others’ or their mental health must be ‘seriously’ impairing their ‘dayto-day functioning’.

Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘This report should be a mark of shame for the SNP.

‘Mental health services for children and young people have gone backwards under Nicola Sturgeon.’

According to the report there has been a 22 per cent rise in those seeking specialist mental health treatment in Scotland since 2013-14, with 33,270 children referred in 2017-18.

It also shows a 24 per cent rise in referral rejections, with 7,199 youngsters turned away last year. In 2017, 64 suicides of 15 to 24-year-olds were registered in Scotland.

Yet while there has been a rise in referrals, the watchdog found that ‘thresholds for access to specialist care are high’.

Scottish Conservative mental health spokesman Annie Wells said: ‘Failure to address mental illness in a child can lead to a lifetime of chaos and misery.’

Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey admitted: ‘Too many children and adolescents are being let down by the current system.’

Toni Giugliano of the Mental Health Foundation Scotland said: ‘It’s clear that the current system is failing to meet the needs of too many children and young people.’

Theresa Fyffe, RCN Scotland director, said early intervention can ‘stop many young people needing specialist services in the longer term’.