Scottish Government
 Printable version
|
CAMHS waiting times standard met for a year
Sustained improvement in mental health care for children and young people.
Progress on waiting times for children and young people waiting for specialist mental health care has been maintained for a year, according to the latest statistics.
New figures from Public Health Scotland show that between July and September, 91.5% of children and young people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This exceeds the national standard of 90%.
CAMHS provides specialist NHS support for children and young people with serious mental health needs. To provide alternatives to this specialist service, over £80 million has been invested in community mental health services, plus £16 million a year for school counselling. From this year, £15 million annually will go to local authorities to maintain community-based support for children and young people who need it.
Mental Wellbeing Minister Tom Arthur said:
"I welcome the continued progress in these specialist children and adolescent mental health services. Over the last year, these services have exceeded the national standard, with 91.5% of children and young people starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS in the latest quarter.
"This achievement is down to the dedication of our CAMHS staff, who work tirelessly to support families during some of their most difficult moments. We have invested significantly in strengthening services, increasing CAMHS staffing by more than 50% over the last decade and exceeding our commitment to fund 320 additional posts by 2026.
“Local CAMHS teams are responding quickly, with half of all children and young people beginning treatment within five weeks. We are also seeing positive signs, with the overall CAMHS waiting list decreasing by 5.3% in the previous year.
"While we continue working with Boards to reduce waiting lists, we recognise that services remain under pressure and that performance may vary in coming months. There is still more to do to ensure performance is consistent across the country, and we are supporting all NHS Boards to meet the standard and continue delivering improvements."
Background
The national CAMHS standard was set in 2014.
Original article link: https://www.gov.scot/news/camhs-waiting-times-standard-met-for-a-year/
