Fears Tayside kids as young as 12 face 18 month NHS mental health wait
We're hearing youngsters in the region's rural areas are in desperate need of support
Last updated 5th Feb 2021
It's claimed children as young as 12 in Tayside are facing an 18 month wait for NHS mental health support.
That's according to a Perth crisis centre, which fears youngsters in the region's rural areas are slipping through the cracks.
Last month a 16-year-old boy's body was found in Glenfarg. Those working with some of the most vulnerable in the area say coronavirus restrictions are testing youngsters to the limit.
"My son was a classmate of the boy that recently passed. He said to me 'I need to see my friends', we need to hug each other," said Sharon Thomas, manager at The Lighthouse for Perth.
"We need that personal touch and they're just not getting it and now they're struggling. It's only been two weeks since a 16-year-old in our area took their life.
"Unfortunately that 16-year-old wasn't using our services because he was in a more rural area, but we are working to move into those areas.
"We had someone in just this week, who is waiting for CAMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). She's 12, suicidal and has been told she'll get an appointment in 18 months.
"She's in crisis, she's feeling suicidal. She needs help now."
It comes exactly a year after an independent review found the health board's services needed overhauled.
David Strang's reported highlighted 51 recommendations, which called for radical change and a complete overhaul of services.
Ms Thomas thinks change is slowly happening.
"They're (NHS Tayside) aren't just recognising our services, they're using our services. We are taking referrals from the NHS and they are now recognising there is a service here that has been missing," she added.
"We're getting referrals from social work, everywhere. But it's really sad to see the demand for such a young age group."
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said, “NHS Tayside is currently meeting the 18-week National Waiting Times target for Mental Health. The service is currently developing measures to continually improve on waiting times.
“Additional nursing staff have been recruited to provide more support to children and young people over the coming months.
“The installation of Near Me equipment has been expanded to enable staff during the pandemic to continue to provide outpatient appointments for new assessments, ongoing treatment and continuous review.
“The service is also continuing to work with specialist online CAMHS service Healios to provide face-to-face video appointments for children and young people across Tayside. This service allows flexible appointments at times that suit the children and their families and has enabled us to offer appointments sooner and reduce the time that children and their families wait for treatment.
“A text reminder service for appointments has been introduced and we now offer ‘opt in’ appointments, where patients can phone in and arrange an appointment at a suitable time for them.
“Tayside CAMHs website has recently been re-launched and has up-to-date information regarding contacting CAMHS, both in and out of hours, self-help advice and support for children, families and other professionals and links to other useful websites can be found at www.taysidecamhs.scot.nhs.uk
“The upcoming launch of the new Tayside Mental Health Strategy ‘Living Life well’ will demonstrate our commitment to improving Mental Health and wellbeing for children and young people in Tayside.
“The service remains committed to making further improvements to ensure all our children and young people receive the best quality care without delays.”