Children waiting up to three years for assessments

Almost 1500 young people are on NHS Tayside’s neurodevelopmental pathway at the beginning of this month, with 126 waiting between two and three years to be seen.

Another 580 have been on the waiting list between one and two years, and 771 for up to a year. This follows changes to the Child and Adult Mental Health (CAMHS) referrals in 2020, where the health board split mental health referrals from neurodevelopment. There are 383 children on the pathway for mental health problems, all waiting up to a year for initial assessment.

Tess White, Scottish Conservative shadow public health minister, said: “These waiting times are absolutely intolerable for young people and their parents, who are waiting years for assessments which could change their lives.

“A constituent in Angus was recently quoted three years for their son to get an autism diagnosis and has had to investigate using a private provider in Glasgow. The CAMHS redesign seems to have taken an overstretched service and pulled it in a different direction.

“Unnecessary delays can have a seriously detrimental effect on the child, and a tremendous impact on the parents who are already struggling to cope under a cloud of uncertainty. This crisis is the result of poor workforce planning by successive SNP health secretaries, and Humza Yousaf must now take immediate action to reduce these abysmal waiting times.”