Meeting of the Parliament 13 June 2018
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Six minutes is a rather short time to address these important issues, but I will do my best.
As stigma around mental health has lifted, we have witnessed a fantastic change in our society. More and more people are comfortable talking about their own mental health and coming forward for help when they need it. As a result, it is right that our expectations on services for mental health care should also change. Our mental health strategy sets out a vision of a Scotland where people can get the right help at the right time, expect recovery, and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma. Achieving that vision is not an easy task, but it is one to which I believe that everyone in the chamber is committed.
On child and adolescent mental health services, I am clear that performance on new referrals is simply not good enough. I have met, and continue to meet, the chairs and chief executives of NHS boards on the issue. I have made clear to them my expectation for them to produce new plans on how they will take forward their services to best meet the needs of their patients.
We are entering a period during which services are being redesigned to meet the changing demand of young people and children coming forward. We have put young people at the heart of some of the key upcoming reports that will help to shape that. Last year, I commissioned an audit of rejected referrals by the Scottish Association for Mental Health, to provide us with recommendations on how we can reshape services to ensure that those who need our care can receive it. It will be published later this month.
We have invested £95,000 in a youth commission on mental health, led by Young Scot and SAMH, which will also set out recommendations on mental health services. To improve care planning for children and young people, we are working with the Scottish Youth Parliament, examining provision for those transitioning, including from CAMHS to adult mental health services. That work will also conclude shortly.
We are also working to reshape provision on adult services. In primary care, we are investing in multidisciplinary teams. Each integration authority is developing a primary care improvement plan, which must include meeting the needs of people with mental health issues. All four test sites for distress brief intervention are under way, with early indications of positive outcomes. That is a world-leading innovation, which is attracting international interest.
Our mental health and incapacity legislation is based on rights and principles. The review of how the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 works for those who have learning disability and autism is under way, and we have consulted on proposals for reform of our incapacity legislation.
A further piece of work that will conclude soon is the development of our new suicide prevention plan. It will be published before recess and it will build on our current investment in prevention of more than £2 million a year.
The loss of anyone to suicide is a tragedy. It represents not only the pain and distress that has led to someone taking their own life but the pain and the loss of their loved ones. As a result, I believe that it is impossible to be too ambitious on aiming to prevent suicide. The new plan will signal a step change in our approach to suicide prevention.
I would like to put on record my thanks to stakeholders such as the Samaritans—I note that the tone of the Samaritans’ briefing is in stark contrast to that of Alex Cole-Hamilton—Penumbra, the Mental Health Foundation, the Mental Health Alliance and many others for their help in improving the prevention plan in recent months.
In a recent amendment, we outlined that the prevention plan would include the development of a new national leadership group. That group will help to drive improvement, and we are creating a new suicide prevention innovation fund of an additional £3 million over the next three years to assist in that work.
Of course, I expect to be held to account for delivery of the change to mental health services. The Scottish Government will publish plans detailing how it will improve performance against key targets. I will be reporting on progress on the mental health strategy in the annual report to Parliament in the autumn.