Health chiefs say tackling the mental health crisis in Renfrewshire is a top priority as we ease out of the pandemic.
Bosses at Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board this week said increasing support for people with mental health problems, those with acute medical needs and the revival of community-based services are now top priorities.
This comes just weeks after the Express revealed how almost 500 people in Renfrewshire are waiting for a first appointment with mental health professionals.
A total of 490 people were then waiting for appointments with community psychiatric and physiology teams and there’s 3,500 adults currently being treated for mental health conditions within the area.
More children and teenagers are also pleading for help via Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
In a statement issued about the planned NHS recovery across greater Glasgow for the next year, the health board said: “We recognise the additional impact the pandemic has had on the mental health of the population.
“Increasing investment in digital resources and virtual appointments will support new psychological services.
“We will build on the success of the mental health assessment units, established at the beginning of the pandemic, which provide support for those in crisis.
“We will focus on the waiting list challenges with CAMHS and psychological therapies.”
The health board revealed earlier this year how its mental health assessment units would be made permanent after they proved helpful for those in the midst of a crisis.
It sees Renfrewshire patients diverted away from the emergency department at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital to a dedicated space at Gartnavel Hospital where they gain immediate access to community psychiatric nurses and doctors.
As well as upping the current provision of mental health support, the NHS aims to bolster the number of planned or elected surgeries in the coming months, in addition to day procedures and appointment slots for scans and endoscopies, which have waiting lists.
While provision across the health board will remain at below pre-pandemic levels for some time, bosses insist every effort will be made to treat patients while continuing to manage the virus and predicted winter
pressures.
Jane Grant, chief executive of NHSGGC, said: “This has been the most challenging time in the history of the NHS, but throughout, our teams have been nothing short of
heroic.
“We will build on the incredible work of our teams who continued to prioritise those most in need during the pandemic, and set ambitious, but realistic, targets for the year ahead.
“Our priority will be to recover acute, community and mental health services disrupted by the pandemic and to build on the innovations in care which emerged during the emergency.”
More details on NHSGGC’s Remobilisation Plan can be found here.
