By Bill Heaney
Scottish Labour has sounded the alarm today as the number of mental health referrals registered as ‘urgent’ has risen across the country.
Statistics obtained by Scottish Labour have shown that the number of CAMHS urgent referrals have risen between 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 in every health board in Scotland bar Arran.
In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for example the number of referrals have soared with the number of urgent referrals rising by over 400 a year between 2019-2020 and 2022-2023.
In Grampian the number of urgent referrals rose by 29 per cent while Fife saw a 51 per cent rise.
These new statistics come as the SNP government continue to miss their own target that 90 per cent of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS.
Despite promises to give mental health services parity with other health services and raise mental health spending to 10 per cent of the NHS budget by 2026, the SNP instead cut £30 million worth of funding last year.
Today, Scottish Labour has demanded that the SNP government wake up to the ‘ticking timebomb’ of mental health issues among Scotland’s young people.
Scottish Labour mental health spokesperson Paul Sweeney, pictured top of page, said: “While the SNP government break their promises over mental health funding, we are seeing the number of urgent CAMHS referrals rising across the country.
“From the Borders to the Highlands, the number of urgent referrals have risen but the SNP has persisted with cuts to mental health services.
“For too long the SNP has been asleep at the wheel while Scotland has entered a youth mental health crisis.
“While the SNP bury their head in the sand and ignore this crisis, Scottish Labour will continue to fight to deliver the resources and the action our young people need”
Urgent CAMHS referrals made by GPs
|
|
2019/20 |
2022/23 |
% change |
|
NHS Ayrshire & Arran |
158 |
118 |
-25% |
|
NHS Borders |
92 |
129 |
40% |
|
NHS Dumfries & Galloway |
76 |
120 |
58% |
|
NHS Fife |
466 |
705 |
51% |
|
NHS Forth Valley |
No response |
||
|
NHS Grampian |
350 |
453 |
29% |
|
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
1350 |
1790 |
33% |
|
NHS Highland |
206 |
239 |
16% |
|
NHS Lanarkshire |
7 |
52 |
643% |
|
NHS Lothian |
416 |
489 |
18% |
|
NHS Orkney |
13 |
29 |
123% |
|
NHS Shetland |
8 |
18 |
125% |
|
NHS Tayside |
375 |
444 |
18% |
|
NHS Western Isles |
18 |
23 |
28% |
Source: Scottish Labour Freedom of Information requests
In 2023/24, the Scottish Government made £30 million worth of cuts to mental health funding in-year: https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/finance-and-public-administration-committee/correspondence/2023/budget_dfmtoconvener_21nov23.pdf