Number of youngsters needing mental health care trebles in 12 months

THE coronavirus pandemic has made the case for change in mental health care for children and young people “more urgent”, public spending watchdogs have warned.

A report in 2018 by Audit Scotland, looking at why some youngsters get rejected for help from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) found “complex and fragmented systems” could make it “difficult for children and young people to get the support they need”.

Since then, the number of youngsters having to wait more than a year for treatment has trebled in the past 12 months.

Antony Clark, controller of audit and director of performance audit and best value at Audit Scotland, said “serious concerns have existed for years about access to children and young people’s mental health services”, but he stated the impact of the coronavirus pandemic “has made the need for change more urgent”.

In a blog post published on the Audit Scotland website, he said the situation today was still “similar” to what it was in 2018, “despite significant investment” by the Scottish Government.

Mr Clark noted there were more youngsters waiting longer than the 18-week target time to start receiving CAMHS treatment – with the proportion of patients on the list for longer than this rising from 26 per cent in 2017-18 to 33% in 2020-21

He added: “Meanwhile, those waiting more than a year for treatment has trebled in the last 12 months – up from 6% in March 2020 to 18% in March 2021. That’s a real marker of the pandemic’s impact.”

At the end of March last year there were 695 children and young people who had been waiting a year or more for their first CAMHS appointment, but by the end of March this year official statistics showed that had risen to 2,012, an increase of 189.5% over the period.

While a fall in the number of youngsters being referred for specialist help could be seen as

“one bright spot” with numbers down 17% in a year, Mr Clark added “this is very likely due to Covid-19 measures such as school closures and limited access to GPS rather than a reduction in demand”.

He stressed the pandemic and the resulting restrictions brought in by ministers “have made it more important than ever that children and young people can access the support they need”.

MSP Craig Hoy, spokesman on mental health for the Scottish Conservatives, said “urgent investment” was needed.