‘Highlands being left behind’ says charity after figures reveal 164-hour mental health officers shortfall
NEW figures reveal that there was an estimated 164 hour per week shortfall of mental health officers in the Highlands in 2023 — pushing a local charity to call for investment to prevent “the Highlands from being left behind” for mental health services.
A new report from the Scottish Social Services Council has highlighted that the Highlands had an estimated 164 hours per week shortfall for mental health officers (MHO) in 2023. This is up by 14 hours compared to 2022, which saw a shortfall of 140 hours per week.
Assuming an average full time working week is 36 hours, then about 4.5 extra fulltime exclusive MHOs would be required in the Highlands to fill this shortfall.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the Highlands’ suicide rate remains “significantly higher” than the Scottish average, according to the National Records of Scotland. The five-year average per 100,000 people stood at 20.5 for the Highland Council area for the period from 2019 to 2023 — up from the Scottish figure of 14.6.
As well as these figures, the Scottish Government has also outlined a £18.8m cut to mental health services in their September budget announcement — this has pushed Change Mental Health, a charity with three Highland branches, to state that “even a small number of vacancies can cause huge challenges” for running rural mental health services.
Jim Hume, director for public affairs and communications at Change Mental Health, said: “We know that recruitment of health professionals in rural areas is much more difficult than in urban areas, with Scotland facing a rural healthcare recruitment and retention crisis.
“In addition to recruitment challenges, even a small number of vacancies or staff absences can cause huge challenges in terms of running services safely in rural areas.
“The Scottish Government has committed to develop a Remote and Rural Workforce Strategy by the end of 2024. This needs to commit to a long-term workforce plan that will deliver safe staffing for rural Scotland.
“The Scottish Government’s latest budget announcement outlines an £18.8m cut to mental health services, with additional funding for Mental Health Officers set to be cut. Reducing funding will make closing this shortfall for Mental Health Officers in regions like Highland much more difficult.
“There needs to be an investment in Mental Health Officers to prevent Highland and rural communities from being left behind, so people can get the support they need, when they need it and in a way which works best for them.”
The Scottish Social Services Councils’ report also explained that shortfall is calculated by asking MHO managers to indicate if there is a shortfall — these estimates are then “queried with local authorities any shortfall changes which seemed inconsistent with any staffing level changes.”
