Over 40,000 phone calls to an NHS mental health crisis line in Scotland have been abandoned in the last year.
On World Mental Health Day, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton revealed that in the 12 months from July 2020 to June 2021, more than 40,000 phone calls to the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub were abandoned.
The figures obtained by Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information requests reveal that out of 129,200 phone calls to the mental health hub, 40,424 calls were abandoned, representing 31 per cent of all calls.
In March First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the number of unanswered calls to the Mental Health Hub was “unacceptable”.
Since then, over 13,000 calls have been abandoned.
Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP accused the Scottish government of abandoning the training of new mental health first aiders when the pandemic struck and allowing Scotland to fall far behind England where online training never stopped.
He said: “I don’t think anyone among us would say that the last eighteen months have been easy. The pandemic has imposed an enormous mental burden on people who may have already been struggling.
“Unfortunately these figures show that many of those who reached out for help didn’t get it. They join the many others who have already been let down by the dearth of mental health support in this country.”
Cole-Hamilton added: “The Scottish Government shamefully abandoned training during the pandemic. Scottish Liberal Democrats secured an additional £120 million for mental health in the last budget but this is just a fraction of the commitment that is needed if we are to transform mental health treatment in this country.”
“Mental health is still nowhere near as supported as physical health. This World Mental Health day, we must do better.”
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
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