More than 1,500 children wait a year for help with mental health

MORE than 1,500 children had been waiting a year or more for specialist help with mental health problems by the end of 2020, with the total having increased by almost 165 per cent in 12 months.

New figures showed that at the end of December a total of 1,560 youngsters had been waiting 52 weeks or more for an appointment with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

That is up from 589 at the end of December 2019 – a rise of 164.8%

By the end of 2020, 11,166 children and young people were waiting to be seen by CAMHS – with campaigners at the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) complaining that the number waiting more than a year was the worst on record.

Public Health

Scotland’s latest waiting times report explained that the rise in the number of youngsters experiencing long waits was “potentially due to a combination of school closures, some CYP (children and young people) not having access to a safe/ confidential space to engage in digital appointments, or have a desire to wait for an in-person appointment”.

But the SCSC, an alliance of organisations working with vulnerable youngsters, branded the latest figures as “deeply troubling”, adding they “point to a highly challenging environment for both our young people and our mental health services”.

While the Scottish Government has recently upped investment in mental health services, a SCSC spokesman insisted that “significantly greater funding is needed to address the current crisis facing our children and young people”.

Mental health minister Clare Haughey said there had been a “significant increase” in performance in the most recent quarter, describing this as “encouraging”.

But she added: “We want to go further as long waits are unacceptable.”

Ms Haughey said a number of actions had been set out to “progress improvement on access to CAMHS and psychological therapies, backed by significant investment”.

She continued: “The £120 million we have announced for our Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund is the single largest investment in mental health in the history of devolution.

“It will prioritise our ongoing work to improve specialist CAMHS services.”