Lothian recruits extra staff for child mental health

The recruitment of more professionals will increase the number of children who can be seen.

HEALTH bosses in Lothian are investing £3 million on extra staff to treat children and young people with mental health problems amid mounting concern over how long they have to wait for an appointment.

The money will pay for an extra 40 clinical psychologists, registered nurses and occupational therapists, with the first of the new recruits expected to start work this month.

The move was welcomed by Lothian MSP and Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs, but he said the investment was overdue.

Miles Briggs says the investment is overdue

Just last month, new figures showed Lothian was among nine out of 14 regional health boards failing to meet the Scottish Government’s 18-week waiting time target. Only 55.9 per cent of children and young people referred for mental health treatment in Lothian were seen within that time - and 21.5 per cent were having to wait more than a year.

Mr Briggs said: “Parents regularly contact me about the horrendous delays their children are experiencing to access mental health support.

“Early and swift treatments for mental health challenges for children are hugely important. Interventions can make such a difference in preventing less serious issues developing into much more serious ones which can potentially last throughout adult life.

“This investment in more staff should have been made before now. Too many children and young people have slipped through the net, not getting the support they need.”

NHS Lothian has said the first 21 new clinical psychologists, registered nurses and occupational therapists will take up post later this month with the rest due to be in place by March.

Professor Alex McMahon, nurse director at NHS Lothian, said: “We are pleased to have made additional investment of £3m available for our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

“We are continuing to work hard to reduce the numbers of patients waiting for treatment and this significant investment will support the delivery of expert services, by increasing capacity and recruiting new members of staff to deliver care in outpatient teams.”