The SNP have been accused of “betraying” vulnerable young Scots after shocking stats revealed that mental health patients are waiting up to three years to see a specialist.
Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, via Freedom of Information requests, reveal that a patient in NHS Highland had been waiting 150 weeks for their first Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) appointment by the middle of last year.
Other patients waited 111 weeks and 91 weeks – in Tayside and Ayrshire and Arran, respectively – while another, in NHS Lothian, endured a two-year wait between CAMHS appointments.
Shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane described the figures as “intolerable” and blamed SNP Government “failure” for exacerbating “Scotland’s mental health crisis.”
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “These appalling figures lay bare the betrayal of vulnerable young people in Scotland by Humza Yousaf and the SNP Government.
“The pandemic has worsened Scotland’s mental health crisis, particularly among young people, and waits of up to three years at a crucial time in their development are intolerable and life-threatening for those who are suicidal or in despair.
“CAMHS practitioners are doing all they can to match the enormous demand for their services – but they are completely overwhelmed. And, as with all areas of Scotland’s NHS, the capacity problems stem from dire workforce planning by successive SNP health secretaries.
“Humza Yousaf owes young mental health patients an apology for the dismal failure of his Covid recovery plan to clear CAMHS waiting times by March 2023.
“But the SNP’s failure predates the pandemic – they have never met their target for 90 per cent of children and young people to start treatment within 18 weeks of referral since its introduction in 2014.”
Notes
As of 30 June 2023, a patient in NHS Highland had waited 150 weeks for their first CAMHS appointment, just six weeks off a three year wait. Another patient in Tayside waited 111 weeks for a first appointment, whilst another in Ayrshire and Arran waited 91 weeks. (Scottish Conservative FOI, 9 January 2024, Available on Request).
A patient in NHS Lothian waited two years between appointments. Whilst only six health boards were able to provide waiting times between appointments, a patient in NHS Lothian waited 130 weeks for a follow up appointment. A patient in NHS Grampian only waited 64 weeks for a follow up appointment. (Scottish Conservative FOI, 9 January 2024, Available on Request).
The SNP have never met their target for 90% of children and young people to start treatment within 18 weeks. The Scottish Government standard states that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS but this has never been met since the target was introduced in December 2014. (CAMHS waiting times, 5 December 2023, link).
Humza Yousaf failed to meet his target to clear CAMHS waiting lists. In his Covid Recovery Plan, Yousaf committed to ‘clearing waiting lists in both CAMHS and Psychological Therapies by March 2023.’ However, in quarter ending March 2023, 7,701 children and young people were waiting to start treatment. (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times, 6 June 2023, link; NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026, August 2021, link).