A Scots mental health charity chief says ‘change’ is ‘desperately needed’ as over 1,000 local youngsters battling poor mental health are on a waiting list for treatment – despite a Government pledge to abolish that list by March 2023.

Billy Watson is the chief executive for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH).

He has spoken out following new statistics which reveal that 1,083 children and young people are awaiting treatment from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, quarter ending June 2023. In addition, just 74p in every £100 spent by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley is on child mental health services.

The latest figures come from the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people. SCSC bosses revealed the damning statistics to Glasgow Live this week. The organisation also slammed an, ‘only very slight rise in mental health expenditure as a percentage of total NHS expenditure despite greatly increased demand’.

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