Mental health taskforce chair has stepped down over health battle
The chair of a taskforce l o o k i n g i n t o h o w t o i mprove mental health c a r e f o r c h i l d r e n a n d young people in Scotland has left the post.
Dr Dame Denise Coia said she had stepped down from the role because of illness and had made the decision “with regret”.
She stressed the importance of the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce, saying she hoped it would go on to provide a “blueprint for delivering a new approach” to mental health services for young people.
The S c ot t i s h Government and the local authority group Cosla jointly established the body in June last year amid concern over the waiting times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Ser vices ( CAMHS) and the number of referrals being rejected.
It produced a set of initial recommendations in September. Dame Denise – a former chair of Healthcare Improvement Scotland – said then the focus of work “must be on stronger prevention and early intervention”.
However, she said yesterday: “It is with regret that due to illness I have had to step down from my role as chair.”