Labour MSP Monica Lennon warns that long waiting lists are forcing people to pay for private mental health treatment.
Scottish Government figures have revealed that since 2016 almost 10,000 young people have waited longer than 18 weeks to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), which according to the NHS is almost a third of young people seeking help.
The figure is even worse for adults as over 11,000 have waited longer than 18 weeks to access Psychological Therapies between October 2017 and June this year.
Table – Patients waiting over 18 weeks for CAMHS and Psychological Services
The shocking figures came to light in response to a written parliamentary question by Labour MSP Monica Lennon who is also the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security And Equalities.
Ms Lennon, who says that desperate constituents have told her that long waiting lists have forced them to seek private treatment, also asked the Scottish Government how many people had gone down this route.
Monica Lennon MSP
However, SNP Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey admitted in her response that the Scottish Government had no idea as it did not collect the data.
Poor mental health can have a serious impact on personal finance and no one in Scotland should have the additional worry of paying for mental healthcare.
In response, Ms Lennon to accuse the Scottish Government of “not being bothered” to look into the scale of the problem and demanding an urgent review saying:
I’m calling on the new SNP Minister for Mental Health to instruct her officials to urgently review this nationally.
Poor mental health can have a serious impact on personal finance and no one in Scotland should have the additional worry of paying for mental healthcare.
Ms Lennon has raised the issue of mental health funding, seeking parity for physical health care, since she was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016.
Last year Ms Lennon revealed huge gaps in mental health provision in schools and that in 2016 over 300 children had waiting longer than 12 months for an appointment with CAMHS.
As recently as last month she highlighted the tragic story of her constituent, Luke Henderson, who killed himself after being turned away by health services eight times in six days.
[…] has also spoken out against the stigma of drug and alcohol abuse and is an advocate for better mental health provision, particularly for young […]
[…] remarks come on the back of revelations that some people are resorting to paying for mental health treatment because of excessively long waiting […]