Mental health waiting time targets missed 168000 times over decade Lib Dems

Mental health waiting time targets have been breached more than 168,000 times since they were introduced a decade ago, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has said.

Figures obtained by the party through freedom of information requests show the 18-week waiting time target for two types of treatment was missed 168,128 times since it was introduced in 2014.

Performance against the target is meant to be at 90%, although this has never been met.

The target for child and adolescent mental health services was missed at least 43,670 times and the target for other psychological therapies was missed 124,458 times.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “Mental health has become a signature issue for my party because we know that if you break your arm you’d expect to have it in a cast by the end of the day, but the wait for mental health treatment can be months if not years. Nobody should have to endure that.

“SNP ministers have unleashed tens of millions of cuts on overwhelmed mental health services. They have made it so much harder to bring down waiting lists and get everyone seen.

“Scotland needs world-class mental health services.

“By investing in driving down mental health waiting times we can help people get back to work and make the most of their education.

“The SNP haven’t met the waiting time targets once in the 10 years since they were introduced. It’s time to put an end to their decade of failure.”

Mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd said: “We absolutely understand the distress caused to everyone by any delay in accessing mental health support. Whilst we recognise the ongoing pressures facing the NHS, long waits are unacceptable.

“We are working to ensure that people get the right support, at the right time, and in the right place. This means continuing to work and invest across both community and acute settings.

“This year, in addition to core NHS board spend more than £1.3 billion for mental health services, we allocated £120 million to NHS boards to improve the quality and delivery of mental health services for all, including CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service).

“We have invested over £130 million since 2020 in community-based prevention and early intervention projects. We’ve exceeded our commitment to fund over 800 additional mental health workers in A&E departments, GP practices, police custody suites, and prisons.

“Over 75,000 people have now been referred to our world-leading distress brief intervention programme, providing timely support to those in distress and easing pressures on other frontline services.”

Published: 01/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub