The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, is calling for parity of action and of spend as new figures highlight 164 children and young people have been waiting more than a year for mental health treatment in Scotland.
These figures were highlighted in the latest waiting time statistics from Public Health Scotland published today (3rd June), indicating that 164 children and young people had been waiting over a year for treatment from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the quarter ending March 2025.
This represents a 13 per cent increase in numbers from 145 in the previous quarter, ending December 2024, and from 137 at the same point last year, which represents a 20 per cent increase. Additionally, 253 individuals have been waiting for between nine months and a year for treatment.
The Scottish Government's target, dating back to December 2014, states that 90 per cent of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS.
In addition, 4,674 children and young people were on a waiting list to start treatment in CAMHS at the end of the quarter in March 2025, representing a 7 per cent increase (305) compared to 4,369 in the previous quarter.
This comes against the background of a mental health emergency, with an increasing demand on services, exacerbated by the long shadow of the Covid lockdown and cost-of-living crisis.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, cases of poor mental health in children and young people were at unprecedented levels, with overstretched and under-resourced services struggling to keep pace with growing demand.
However, it should be noted that despite this greatly increased demand, only 0.82 per cent of the total frontline NHS budget was spent on CAMHS in the 2023/24 financial year, amounting to £134.188 million (real terms). This equates to just 82p in every £100 of the NHS budget.
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented:
“The latest figures highlighting that 164 children and young people have been waiting over a year for mental health treatment are extremely alarming.
“What we need is not just parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, but parity of action and parity of spend.
“We are facing a mental health emergency, and many of our children and young people are at breaking point, with stress and anxiety reaching alarming levels as they battle with the long shadow of lockdown and the rising cost of living. This is also having a negative impact on classroom behaviour, affecting the young people concerned, their fellow pupils and staff.
“Each one of these statistics is an individual, and we would urge the Scottish Government to ensure the adequate resourcing of mental health services for our children and young people so that they can get the care and support they need, without lengthy waits.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) is an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, as well as support to their families or carers.
It seeks to improve the lives of these children and young people, and its vision is to make Scotland the best place in the world for them to grow up in.
The SCSC aims to achieve this through campaigning to improve support for these vulnerable individuals. This seeks to ensure that a wide range of high-quality, well-resourced and easily accessible services is provided. Tailored to individual needs this will help them to achieve their full potential.
Members of the SCSC are:
Further information about the SCSC can be found at www.thescsc.org.uk.
