NHS Highland criticised for failing to tackle Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) waiting lists that breach Scottish Government targets
NHS Highland has been accused of “unacceptable” failures in tackling waiting lists for children needing mental health treatment.
Labour’s Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant says the health authority is “continuing to lag behind” improvements made elsewhere in Scotland.
Scottish Government standards demand that 90 per cent of children and young people should start treatment for mental health difficulties within 18 weeks of referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
But newly-published Public Health Scotland data shows that fewer than half – only 43.1 per cent – of young people in the NHS Highland region only are beginning CAMHS treatment in that time.
The data also highlights that roughly one sixth of patients – 16.3% – are waiting 53 weeks or more.
Earlier this year, the regional MSP uncovered data showing that NHS Highland were lagging behind in Scotland in eliminating their longest waits for CAMHS.
The MSP said: “It is unacceptable that children and young people are still waiting so long for mental health treatment.
“This has been an ongoing issue for years, yet NHS Highland cannot seem to tackle this problem.
“CAMHS services are becoming a postcode lottery as other health boards have lowered their waiting times while NHS Highland continues to lag behind.
“Young people in the Highlands and Islands already face the disadvantage of having to travel long distances for services and these waiting times make the situation worse.
“Poor mental health will impact on education and physical health and will impact these young people going forward if they are not seen sooner.”
A spokesman for NHS Highland insisted there was “clear evidence” that progress was being made on reducing those waiting lists.
He said: “With support from the Scottish Government, including additional funding to increase our clinical workforce, NHS Highland CAMHS has been working hard over the autumn and winter period to continue to implement our improvement plan, with clear evidence of ongoing improvements recorded.
“Our further improvements will be reported in due course through Public Health Scotland.
“In the Highland Council area, we have reduced the number of young people waiting from a high of 573 in July 2022 to 285 in January 2024, with less than 150 young people currently on our waiting list.
“The data reported in December relates to performance during the summer of 2024.
“We continue to see significant improvements over the past six months and we are committed to continuing that progress to achieve the standard deserved by our children and families across the Highlands.
“Currently 50 per cent of children referred to the service are seen within nine weeks of referral.
“We have allocated appointments for all children currently waiting longer than 52 weeks and as of January 2025, we expect to have no children waiting longer than 52 weeks.
“We will continue our improvement as we go into 2025 and remain confident and committed to reaching the national standard during 2025.”
