Meeting of the Parliament 02 April 2014
This has been a useful debate. I want to draw it together in a consensual fashion, because our mental health debates have largely had a consensus around them.
I am sure that members will recognise that, when we published the mental health strategy in 2012, it was in order to build on the good work that had already been done on the back of the earlier strategy and to continue to make that progress and increase the pace where possible. There was also a strong consensus among stakeholders that that was the right approach to take, and that we needed to build on the previous commitments and continue that progress.
Some members have asked about what progress has been made. The Scottish Government website keeps up-to-date information on the 36 commitments that were set out in the strategy. Seven commitments have been completed; 23 commitments are well under way; and four commitments are scheduled for work in 2014-15. A considerable amount of work has already been done as part of the implementation of the mental health strategy.
Jim Hume and others have mentioned the Grant report, which was extremely useful 10 years ago in providing us with an insight into the situation in our mental health services at a national level. The work that we are presently undertaking, which has already been commissioned, will enable us to get another report, 10 years on, to see exactly what progress has been made since 2003, and also to see where the challenges remain, which will enable us to focus in on them much more effectively. To complement that, later this year we will undertake a one-day census of the in-patient estate. That follows on from the successful pilot that we ran in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde last year. Along with the 10-year update report, it will give us a fantastic level of data on and insight into the state of our mental health services across the country, which will enable us to identify where we need to make further progress, and how we can focus in on those areas.
Just about every member who has spoken referred to psychological therapies. A key part of introducing the HEAT standard was to drive up improvement in the service. It was a stretch target. I know that the system is not perfect, but the target was introduced to drive further improvement in the system. The latest data shows that the average wait for access to psychological therapies is nine weeks. I recognise that there are variations in different parts of the country. The work that we are undertaking with the Information Services Division around the data that we receive from boards is being done to ensure that we can apply further pressure to those boards where there has been insufficient progress, to drive further progress in accessing psychological therapies.
Malcolm Chisholm mentioned the 18-week target. That is for treatment, rather than referral—it is for the period from referral to treatment. Also mentioned was the range of psychological therapies that are available—there are more therapies than just CBT. A couple of years ago, we published the treatment matrix, which contains a range of evidence-based treatments and psychological therapies that can be provided through NHS Scotland. I am conscious that some people would like different kinds of counselling to be included in the treatment matrix, but we have taken forward the matrix on the basis of clear, clinical evidence that a treatment can provide a better outcome for individuals.
A couple of members may be interested to know that, for access to psychological therapies, the waiting time in the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and Highland is six weeks and in Fife it is 10 weeks. Those are improvements on what happened previously.
A number of members, including Neil Findlay and Richard Simpson, referred to improving access to CAMHS. Richard Simpson was on the Health and Sport Committee with me in a previous parliamentary session, when we considered CAMH services. It was clear that they had been chronically underfunded since the beginning. Investment had just not been made in CAMH services, but a significant level of funding has been introduced over recent years, which has allowed an increase in the level of service that can be provided to speed up access.