‘Improvement’ in mental health waiting times

Children: Staff efforts commended as 91% of patients in December received their appointments within an 18-week period

Waiting times for mental health treatment for children and adolescents in Tayside have improved dramatically.

In December, 91.4% of youngsters accessed treatment within the 18-week target.

This is on contrast to November when the figure was 73.6%, and October it was just 30.2%.

The sharp improvement comes after figures showed that between July and September, Tayside had the longest waiting times in Scotland.

Efforts have been made to recruit more Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) staff, with the number increasing by 23% (from 88.5 to 108.9) between 2014 and 2015.

NHS Tayside’s general manager for medicine, Carol Goodman, said: “Over the last 12 months, NHS Tayside has been undertaking a detailed improvement programme for CAMHS designed to reduce outpatient waiting times.

“Additional nursing and medical staff have been appointed and the CAMHS team have since made a significant impact on reducing waiting times.

“Whilst a small number of children and young people who had appointments in the quarter October to December 2015 waited longer than 18 weeks, all new referrals for children and young people are now being seen within 18 weeks.

“Through the considerable efforts of staff, by the end of December 2015 NHS Tayside CAMHS have achieved the referral to treatment waiting times standard with 91% of children and young people being seen within 18 weeks.”