Record number young people turned away from mental health service sparking fears of growing crisis

The ‘alarming’ figures have sparked fears many are being left without vital support.

Record numbers of young people are being turned away from mental health services, after a surge in requests for support.

Across Scotland nearly a quarter who applied to access help from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) were ‘not accepted’, sparking fears youngsters could be missing out on vital help.

It comes after the Evening News revealed that young people who have waited months – or years – for help with severe mental health problems are being sent to charities and community groups, as crisis-hit CAMHS teams struggle to cope with demand.

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More than 4000 referrals to CAMHS were made to local authorities in March – but nearly 1000 were not accepted. According to the latest figures, March saw the highest number of referrals to the service since January 2019.

Young people referred to NHS Lothian services shot up by nearly forty per cent in six months, from 1683 in September 2022 to 2307 in March, 2023.

It’s not understood why more young people are being turned away as the reasons for not being accepted by the service isn’t recorded.

Lothian MSP Miles Briggs said: “For almost a quarter of CAMHS referrals to be denied is a reflection of how much pressure the service is under.

“Staff are working hard to see as many young people as possible, but the number of referrals is rising every year. Every month hundreds of young people, who urgently need mental health support, are being turned away. The latest figures available show almost a thousand referrals not being accepted, which is alarming. The pandemic had an impact on the mental health of the whole nation, with many young people finding the period particularly challenging.”

“For years SNP Ministers have failed to plan ahead and invest in mental health support for young people, leaving too many without vital support.”

Health chiefs claimed the move to offer ‘choice’ appointments which direct youngsters to other organisations will give young people ‘timely help’. The move was recently put in place by services in Lothian, Glasgow and Grampian.

Choice appointments are being offered to those with severe problems including eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and self-harming. Health chiefs say they are only offered after appropriate assessment by doctors.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:

“Following our record-breaking investments in CAMHS, we can see significant and sustained progress, including continuing record levels of activity. This has been made possible by the hard work of the CAMHS workforce which has more than doubled, since 2007. This progress has been made despite an increasing number of referrals for the services, which are now at record levels.

“However, we know that CAMHS will only be the right service for a small proportion of children and young people, and so we have invested £30 million in the last 2 years to provide community-based mental health supports for children and young people, their families and their carers. Local authorities report that 45,000 people accessed those services between July and December last year.

“The National CAMHS specification is clear that children and young people whose referral is not accepted are sensitively and appropriately signposted to a more suitable service, such as those provided by the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Services.”

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