13% of Highland children waited over 53 weeks for mental health treatment
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13% of Highland children waited over a year for mental health treatment after being referred to CAMHS, according to a report from Change Mental Health.
After recently opening a new resource centre in Invergordon, Change Mental Health have released a report highlighting the reality of children’s mental healthcare in rural Scotland, following new data from Public Health Scotland.
The Invergordon resource centre was 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 deliver outreach and carer support across Ross-shire 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), from the recent quarter ending in December 2023.
The report reveals that more than 13 per cent of children in the NHS Highland area waited over 53 weeks for mental health treatment. This is in spite of the Scottish Government’s target for 90 per cent of children to start treatment within 18 weeks after a CAMHS referral.
These figures also means that these children in NHS Highland are almost ten times more likely to wait over a year for CAMHS treatment, compared to NHS Scotland as a whole.
Change Mental Health’s report goes on to explain that people in rural Scotland are more likely to experience depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviour and anxiety – regardless of age or gender.
In turn, Audit Scotland has stated that accessing mental healthcare is more difficult in rural areas, and acknowledges that this has been a long-standing problem on which progress has been slow.
Nick Ward, CEO 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 and 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 to needing medical intervention.”
The report goes on to recommend investing in early intervention, to build mental resilience in children and young people while tackling Scotland’s current mental health crisis.
Change Mental Health say their programme Bloom, 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.
