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Sustained improvement in mental health care for children and young people.

Scotland has met its Programme for Government commitment on specialist children's mental health waiting times, with new statistics confirming that 90% of children and young people referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) started treatment within 18 weeks of referral by the December 2025 target date. 

The Scottish Government has invested significantly in CAMHS over the past decade, with staffing increasing by 53%. The commitment to fund 320 additional CAMHS posts by 2026 has been exceeded, increasing capacity for cases by over 10,000.

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.

CAMHS waiting times of over 18 weeks are now at their lowest level since June 2013 and CAMHS targets have been met consistently for over a year.

Mental Wellbeing Minister Tom Arthur said:

"Meeting our Programme for Government commitment on the CAMHS waiting times standard by the December 2025 target is a real and meaningful achievement. It has been made possible by the hard work and dedication of NHS staff across Scotland who support children, young people and their families through some of the most difficult times of their lives.

"The progress is sustained and it is clear — waiting lists are at historic lows with over 52 week waits dropping by over 30% in the last year and half of all young people referred are being seen within five weeks.

"I am encouraged by the real progress that has been made in recent months to clear backlogs and we will continue to work closely with those NHS Boards where some challenges remain over the next few months as they complete this work.

"Despite progress, there is more to do, and we remain committed to supporting all NHS Boards to sustain and build on this momentum."

Background

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Child, Adolescent, and Psychological Therapies Data March 2026

The national CAMHS 18-week referral-to-treatment standard was introduced in 2014.

The Programme for Government and Operational Improvement Plan committed to meeting the 90% standard and clearing backlogs by December 2025.

Over the past year, the overall CAMHS waiting list has fallen by 7.2%. The number of children waiting over 18 weeks has dropped by 19.7% and those waiting over 52 weeks has fallen by 33.1% to 97.

Twelve out of 14 Boards now report zero patients waiting over 52 weeks and one in two children referred to CAMHS is now beginning treatment within five weeks.