CRAIG Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, has slammed the SNP Government for presiding over “appalling” mental health waiting times for children and young people in NHS Lothian.
Craig’s call comes after responses to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Scottish Conservatives uncovered the “intolerable” waits being endured by children and young people who require mental health support across the country.
One patient in NHS Lothian waited more than two years between their first and second appointments. The longest wait a CAMHS patient suffered for their first appointment in the health board area was between 50-60 weeks.
Craig Hoy MSP says the long waits are a “betrayal” of young people in NHS Lothian by the SNP Government – and that dire workforce planning by successive Nationalist health secretaries has left CAMHS services in Lothian completely overwhelmed.
The South of Scotland MSP said: “Vulnerable children and young people in East Lothian are suffering truly appalling waits for mental health treatment on the SNP’s watch.
“Even before the pandemic, the SNP were presiding over a mental health crisis among our young people in NHS Lothian, and the Covid pandemic has only made the problem worse.
“No patient should be waiting as long as 60 weeks to have their first CAMHS appointment. We’re talking about vulnerable, potentially suicidal, youngsters, so these waits are intolerable and potentially life-threatening.
“They represent a betrayal of young people by the SNP.
“Successive SNP health secretaries have presided over dire workforce planning and that has left our CAMHS services completely overstretched.
“They owe young people in East Lothian an apology, and the current incumbent – the discredited and distracted Michael Matheson – must now outline an urgent plan to ensure those requiring mental health support are seen far sooner.”
