5 days ago
Minister makes Stirling visit as improved CAMHS waiting times hailed
The health board had come under scrutiny for the amount of time children and young people were waiting for mental health support - but data shows an improvement in the last 18 months.
Recent steps taken in Forth Valley to cut down on waiting times for children and young people seeking vital mental health support have been praised on a visit by a Scottish Government minister.
Waiting times for the region's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services had been a previous area of crisis for local health chiefs, with ministers placing it into direct oversight over a number of concerns, including the state of the CAMHS offering.
At that point in November 2022, more than 40 per cent of those still waiting for assessment by CAMHS had been doing so for more than a year.
But following concerted efforts and a new plan to tackle the service's waiting times, the most recent figures for the first quarter of 2025 have revealed a major turnaround, with no patients now waiting more than the national standard of 18 weeks for support.
The local data for the period between January and March this year also outlined that a whopping 99.1 per cent of those starting treatment in the last three months had only been waiting a maximum of 18 weeks to do so.
On a visit to the Stirling Health and Care Village on Tuesday, the Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd met with families making use of the service, as well as staff and NHS Forth Valley's Allan Rennie and Helena Marshall.
During the visit, Ms Todd said: 'We want all children and young people to be able to access appropriate mental health treatment as and when they need to, and this continued progress on waiting times is testament to the hard-working staff who care for those referred to these services.
'We have exceeded our promise to provide funding for 320 additional staff for CAMHS by 2026 and this will no doubt have contributed to the improvements we are seeing but I am well aware there is still much to be done if this is to be sustained and consistent across Scotland.
'However, we are on the right path and the £123.5 million we have allocated to NHS Boards this year will mean the quality and delivery of all mental health services – including CAMHS - will continue to improve.'
The turnaround in CAMHS provision has been linked to a 'radical new approach' made in Forth Valley - including the introduction of a Choice and Partnership (CAPA) approach aimed at increasing the range of treatment options available, maximising capacity and improve the management and monitoring of demand and capacity.
Lesley Dunabie, Department Manager and Head of Nursing for NHS Forth Valley CAMHS, said: 'We are delighted that the changes introduced by local staff over the last 18 months have made such a positive impact to our waiting times and significantly improved the services and support available for children and young people with serious mental illness.
'We are committed to building on this by continuing to develop and improve local services for children and young people and working with a wide range of partners to help increase access to support in local schools and communities at an earlier stage.'
