A CRISIS LAID BARE

10,193 children and young people were referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the three months up to the end of June, the most recent figures available. The number for same period last year was 4,052.

27% of children and young people referred for help in the three months up to June were not seen within the target of 18 weeks, down from 38% the year before.

One-in-five patients had been waiting more than a year for treatment in March this year, treble the 6% waiting that long in March 2020. The figure fell slightly to around one-in-six by June this year.

33% waiting more than 18 weeks to start treatment across 2020/21 up from 26% in 2017/18, according to Audit Scotland.

28,988 open cases in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at end of June. This represents around one-in-40 of all the approximately one million people in Scotland aged 18 or under. The number is up from 28,425 at the time of our article last October. (Figures from Public Health Scotland)