Mental health Alarm over child waiting times
CHILDREN in Scotland are waiting more than two million days over the NHS target for mental health treatment, startling new figures reveal. According to data obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats from health boards, between 2017/18 and the present day, children were facing collective delays of 2.4 million days over the 18-week target.
Scottish Libdems health spokesman Alex Cole-hamilton said the figures were concerning, and added that the mental health system was under pressure.
CHILDREN waiting for mental health treatment are facing collective delays of more than two million days over the NHS target, figures have revealed.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats asked all health boards about the delays affecting children and young people who are in need of support over the past four years.
Although the waiting time target for treatment is 18 weeks, many health boards are unable to meet it for all patients.
According to the data obtained by the Libdems, children were waiting for 2.4 million days over the 18-week target, in total, for treatment between 2017/18 and the present day.
If a child starts treatment a week after the 18-week target, their wait of seven days would be added to the collective total.
In 2017/18 young people across all health boards waited 274,954 days over the 18-week target for treatment. However, this year the length of delays has risen to more than 1.2 million days.
While some health boards have managed to reduce the length of time children are waiting in the four-year period, others have seen their waiting times increase.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland’s largest health board, said that in 2017/18, it had a collective waiting time of 4,552 days. However this year the waiting time has increased to 235,256 days.
NHS Lothian has also seen a rise from 123,361 days in 2017/18 to 486,395 days this year.
Scottish Libdems health spokesman Alex Cole-hamilton said the figures were concerning, and added that the mental health system was under pressure.
“Children needing mental health help in Scotland have been left waiting 2.5 million more days than they should have. That’s a scandal,” he said.
“It’s widely acknowledged the next major public health problem coming down the tracks will take the form of mental health problems and these statistics prove we are 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.
“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 wracked 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.”
A Government spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government has been working closely with all boards over this period to plan the recovery of CAMHS [Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services] services across Scotland and to help individual NHS boards respond effectively to the anticipated increase in demand in the months ahead.
“We have provided an additional £15 million to local authorities to respond to children and young people’s mental health issues, 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.
“These new support services will be available for five- to 25-year-olds, their families and carers. This is the start of a long-term commitment to provide a new type of mental health support alongside psychological services provided through CAMHS.
“This funding is in addition to ongoing annual funding to support the recruitment of an additional 80 mental health professionals to work with children and young people in CAMHS services across Scotland, and our recent announcement of a further £3.6m to help provide more than 80 additional counsellors in every college and university over the next four years.”