Calls have been made for the Scottish Health Secretary to get to grips with Lothian’s “mental health crisis” as latest figures reveal that 41.4 per cent of the region’s children and young people patients are waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Of the 727 patients seen by NHS Lothian’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) between April and June this year, 301 had to wait longer than four-and-a-half months – that’s the second highest rate in the country.
And in the 12 months up to June, 1709 referrals of children and young people to mental health services were turned down by NHS Lothian – the highest number of rejections in Scotland. The latest shocking figures from the Information Services Division (ISD) show that one in four young people under the age of 18 is having to wait more than a year for mental health support in the NHS Lothian area.
For the most recent monthly figures available, 54 young people had to wait for more than a year to be seen – that’s 24.6 per cent of the 220 young people seen that month.
NHS Lothian’s performance has been labelled “too slow,” “unacceptable,” and “not good enough” by Lothian Labour MSP Neil Findlay.
“Young people seeking help for mental health problems are being failed by the SNP,” he said
“Despite endless pledges from this SNP government, progress on mental health services for young people remains too slow, with thousands of children still being rejected from treatment and many more facing waits of over four months to be seen. This is simply not acceptable.”
He continued: “It’s not good enough. With the number of young people dying by suicide increasing last year,
it’s more vital than ever that the SNP Health Secretary gets to grips with this mental health crisis and ensures our young people get help when they need it.”
Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Miles Briggs warned that the “CAMHS crisis” is in danger of becoming “an emergency.”
He said: “There is a mental health crisis for young people in the Lothians that is only getting worse due to the SNP complacency over the issue.
“For a parent to be told that their child has to wait over a year to be seen by a mental health specialist is extremely distressing and has become the norm in Lothian.
“As a Lothian MSP, I am not willing to stand by and watch the CAMHS crisis further dissent into an emergency.”
Mr Briggs has written to Cabinet Secretary for Health Jeane Freeman demanding action over “these unacceptably long waiting times.”
He continued: “Parents and guardians want urgent action to turn this totally unacceptable situation around and we have simply not seen SNP Ministers showing the leadership needed.”
Angela Constance MSP says the Scottish Government is rolling out a £250million package of support and additional counsellors in secondary schools are beginning to come on board.
Commenting on the latest figures, she said: “Yet again, there are concerns about the performance of NHS Lothian, raising serious questions for senior managers.
“It is bad enough that NHS Lothian are not meeting national targets but their performance is deteriorating and trailing behind most of Scotland. This is simply not good enough for our young people who deserve the right support and treatment at the right time.”
And she added: “I’ve written to the Health Secretary asking what can be done to ensure NHS Lothian raise their game to better support our young people and frontline staff.”
The latest figures rank NHS Lothian as the poorest performing Trust for CAMHS waiting in Scotland, second only to NHS Grampian, where 48.8 per cent of children and young people waited more than 18 weeks to be seen by a mental health professional.
The most recent statistics come after the publication in June last year of a Scottish government audit of rejected referrals which highlighted “serious flaws” in the CAMHS system.
