Mental health treatment targets missed as 2,163 people wait over a year

Scottish Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton today said Scotland needs world class mental health services after new figures showed the mental health waiting times targets being missed yet again for children and adults.

The Public Health Scotland data shows:

• Only 84.1% of children and young people were seen within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS.

• Just 80.2% of adults were seen within 18 weeks of referral to psychological therapies.

• 4,942 children and young people and 23,669 adults were waiting for treatment at the quarter ending June 2024.

• 181 children and young people and 1,982 adults waiting more than a year to start treatment.

Mental health funding was frozen for the third year in a row in the Scottish budget last December. When combined with in-year funding cuts and inflation, this adds up to more than £80m of real-term cuts to the mental health budget.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“The SNP’s failed NHS Recovery Plan promised to clear mental health waiting lists by March 2023. Eighteen months on and these statistics still show more than 2,000 children and adults waiting over a year for the help they need. Nobody should ever have to endure that.

“The SNP have repeatedly raided tens of millions from the mental health budget, adding to the agony of everyone waiting an age to be seen.

“Scotland needs world-class mental health services. Liberal Democrats would increase the tax the social media giants who cause so much of the problem – a move that could help fund more mental health support in schools, get more professionals close to where you live, and ramp up the training of new staff and mental health first aiders.”