Hansard

I begin in the same way that I began the debate that is referenced in the motion—by thanking the Liberal Democrats for bringing the debate. I also indicate our support for the Liberal Democrat motion and the Conservative amendment.

I appreciate every opportunity to discuss mental health because doing so helps us better understand and enhance the mental health of our country. A lot has taken place since the previous debate on mental health. If we agreed—as we did—that there was a mental health crisis in November 2019, we can be assured that the crisis is far worse today. It could be said that we are nearing the point of a mental health emergency.

The impact of the pandemic has left no aspect of our daily lives unaffected and the full scale of the impact on mental health has not yet been fully realised. However, the official statistics released in the past year give us great cause for concern. Children and young people are missing out on and waiting longer to access CAMHS; there is increasing loneliness; more people are tragically dying by suicide; and more people are revealing that they have had suicidal thoughts, particularly between each wave of the pandemic.

A survey by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland reveals that one in four people think that the pandemic will have a negative impact on their mental health over the next year and 33 per cent of people with an existing mental health condition say that it has worsened since March 2020.

Two and a half years since the review into rejected CAMHS referrals, there has been a disappointing lack of meaningful reform and action in CAMHS. There are far too many young people waiting too long for access to CAMHS. The latest publication of CAMHS waiting times for the quarter ending September 2020 shows that four out of 10 children and young people were waiting longer than the 18-week target. That is a rise in the missed target compared with the previous quarter and the same quarter in 2019.

Scottish Labour wants to see an effective strategy that ensures that young people do not face unnecessary long waits and barriers to their transition to adult services. For far too long, young people have fallen behind as they move to adult services, putting at risk their long-term wellbeing. That issue, which is raised time and time again, is part of the focus of our amendment.

In the November 2019 debate, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport recognised the need for transformational change. If there is to be transformational change—and there surely must be—in how we deliver mental health services and in creating parity between physical and mental health, now is the time to be serious about that and to rebuild mental health services to enable us to deal with this pandemic and future pandemics and crises.

However, that requires political will and capital. It is regrettable that recent budgets laid out by the Government and passed by this Parliament have failed to increase funding for mental health services in line with increases in overall health funding. When cabinet secretaries call for parity between physical and mental health, their actions do not match their rhetoric. We need action, and we need it now.

I move amendment S5M-24138.1, to insert at end:

“; notes with deep concern the further increase in the number of deaths by suicide in 2019 and the reported increase in suicidal thoughts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; considers the continued excessive waits for access to CAMHS and high proportion of young people who still have their referral rejected to be unacceptable; is disappointed at the failure to implement an effective transitions strategy to support patients moving between services; acknowledges that mental health services cannot tackle the crisis without increased resources, and therefore believes it is regrettable that, in recent Scottish Budgets, funding for mental health services has failed to keep up with rises in overall health funding.”