Call for Scotland to spend more money on children with mental health problems

With the number of children and teenagers referred to NHS mental health services in the the last two years rising 35 per cent, organisations which care for vulnerable young people have joined forces to call for extra investment.

They are asking the Scottish Government to increase the proportion of the NHS budget dedicated to young people with mental health problems to 1 per cent.

Their call comes at a time when hundreds of under 16s with mental health issues still have to wait longer than six months to start treatment in Scotland, despite targets to reduce the delays they face. Patients with some of the most severe problems also have to be sent to England because there are no suitable hospitals to look after them north of the Border.

Sophie Pilgrim, director of Kindred Scotland - a voluntary organisation which supports families including children with additional needs, said: "A society should be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens and at the moment mental health services in Scotland are at breaking point.

"Due to a lack of adequate provision hundreds of vulnerable children and young people are being treated in unsuitable adult or paediatric wards, or being sent miles away from their families to England for treatment. There is also no secure inpatient provision in Scotland for those children and young people with mental health conditions. This is clearly a major concern for any organisation upholding the rights of the child in Scotland."

The Scottish Children's Services Coalition, an alliance of independent and third sector organisations which work with vulnerable children - including Kindred Scotland, is campaigning for the budget increase.

Figures show 0.45 per cent of NHS Scotland expenditure goes on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), compared with 0.7% in England and spending levels vary dramatically across the country. In 2013-14 NHS Fife spent 0.08 per cent or £439,000 of its budget on CAMHS. NHS Grampian spent 0.12 per cent or £1.1m. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spent 0.59 per cent and NHS Lothian, which dedicated the greatest proportion of spending to CAMHS, spent 0.7 per cent. Just over £45.2m is spent on the sector nationwide.

Ms Pilgrim, who was speaking on behalf of The Scottish Children's Services Coalition, said: "As a coalition it is staggering to find that only 0.45 per cent of the NHS Scotland budget is being spent on CAMHS, amounting to just over 5.5 per cent of the total mental health budget. Yet we know that one in five children have a mental health condition in any given year and all the evidence points to the clear advantages of early intervention to tackle those suffering and the cost to society of failing to do so.

"We would urge that the Scottish Government looks at radically rebalancing the NHS budget to ensure that we are increasing the proportion of spend on child and adolescent mental health services."

The spending figures were supplied by the government in answer to a parliamentary question placed Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman Jim Hume.

Mr Hume said: "The number of children referred to CAMHS services has doubled since 2012 but spending on CAMHS services as a proportion of total NHS spending has increased by only 0.2 percent in this time."

Jamie Hepburn, minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health "Mental health services are an absolute priority of this government. These are some of the most vulnerable people in our county and it's vital that the health service is properly equipped to give them the support and treatment they need.

"We have been investing heavily for a number of years, and waiting times have come down significantly, despite a rise in the number of people seeking help. There is still more work to be done, which is why we are investing an extra £100 million to further improve mental health services."