13% of Highland children waited over 53 weeks for mental health treatment
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Thirteen per cent of children in the Highlands waited more than a year for mental health treatment after being referred to CAMHS, according to a report by Change Mental Health.
Following the recent opening of a new resource centre in Invergordon, Change Mental Health has published a report highlighting the reality of children’s mental health care in rural Scotland, following new data from Public Health Scotland.
The Invergordon resource centre opened on April 2, after relocating from their Alness premises.
Read more about Change Mental Health’s new Resource Centre in Invergordon here.
The charity aims works to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the community through group work and promoting community engagement. Change Mental Health also provides outreach and carer support to reach the most remote and rural people in the region.
Using data from Public Health Scotland, the new report analyses how long NHS Highland patients aged under 18, waited to start treatment after being referred to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), in the most recent quarter ending in December 2023.
The report shows that more than 13 per cent of children in the NHS Highland area waited more than 53 weeks for mental health treatment. This is idespite the Scottish Government’s target of 90 per cent of children starting treatment within 18 weeks of a CAMHS referral.
These figures also mean that these children are almost ten times more likely to wait over a year for CAMHS treatment in NHS Highland compared to NHS Scotland as a whole.
The Change Mental Health report goes on to explain that people in rural Scotland are more likely to experience depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm and anxiety – regardless of age or gender.
For its part, Audit Scotland has said that access to mental health services is more difficult in rural areas, acknowledgingthat this is a long-standing problem where progress has been slow.
Nick Ward, chief executive of Change Mental Health, said: “This report shows us that once again children and young people in some of our most rural areas, aren’t getting the support they need, when they need it. There must be targeted action from the Scottish Government in tackling these significant rural inequalities.
“We want a future where children and young people aren’t put on waiting lists for support but instead get the early intervention, community-based support that stops poor mental health before it escalates into the need for medical intervention.”
The report goes on to recommend investment in early intervention, to build mental resilience in children and young people while tackling the current mental health crisis in Scotland.
Change Mental Health say their Bloom programme , which has been delivered to over 8000 young people in Scotland, trains teachers and equips young people with the tools and knowledge to maintain their mental health.
