Scotland is in the grip of a mental health epidemic among our young people. New figures reveal a shocking 160,000 have been referred to specialist NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services since 2018.
The number was 34,000 last year – the highest since 2018. But young people are being denied vital help due to a combination of factors.
The near 200 vacancies in the sector means staff shortages are inevitably hitting services. This is having a knock-on effect on waiting times, which have soared in some parts of Scotland.
Figures obtained by the Record show that average waits in NHS Lanarkshire were 495 days last October, compared to 67 days in January 2022. Delays can potentially lead to youngsters taking their own lives, or trying to do so.
Suicide was the leading cause of death among children and young adults in Scotland from 2011 to 2020. The Scottish Government’s decision to scale back some mental health spending in its emergency budget review was a poor one.
We do not underestimate the funding challenges faced by the government but mental health services should still be a priority. For too long mental health has been a Cinderella service compared to physical health in the NHS.
The time for words, not action, is over, The new Health Secretary Michael Matheson must acknowledge the crisis and ensure our young people get the services they need.
Starmer strong
The anti-semitism scandal under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was one of the lowest moments in Labour’s history. For racism to take hold in the way it did was appalling for a party committed to equality and left a deep stain.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been uncompromising in stamping out anti-Jewish sentiment since he took over from Corbyn. The party’s suspension of MP Diane Abbott yesterday was another sign of how Labour has changed.
For Abbott to suggest, as she did in a newspaper letter, that Jews and other groups had not faced racism was obscene. Her bizarre excuse that it had merely been a draft of a letter was also laughable.
It is also worth contrasting Labour’s speedy response with PM Rishi Sunak’s dithering over Dominic Raab. Sunak did not even fire his deputy prime minister and left it to him to resign.
It is another reason why the Tories are not fit for office.
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