Meeting of the Parliament 12 January 2022
Primary care services are often the first point of contact for people who are experiencing mental health problems, but, as we have heard today, improving mental health and wellbeing is a major public health challenge. That is partly because the underlying issues are complex and people’s needs are different. All public services have an important role to play in supporting wellbeing and tackling the social and economic factors that contribute to mental health problems.
In 2021, mental health issues were the primary reason for time off work, outstripping Covid. Poor mental health accounted for 19 per cent of all lost working time across the country, while confirmed cases of Covid represented 16 per cent. In addition, mental health troubles were the most common cause of lost working time in nearly every industry in the UK, with the length of absences averaging at least three times longer than that of Covid-related ones.
Evidence suggests that mental health problems in childhood and adolescence have a significant impact on people’s physical health and education and on their ability to find and sustain employment. The Covid pandemic has had a detrimental effect on children’s and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, with some evidence showing that it will also affect their attainment.
Thirty-six per cent of children and young people with learning disabilities have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder; 40 per cent of looked-after children in Scotland who are aged between five and 17 have been assessed as having at least one mental disorder; and 95 per cent of 16 to 20-year-olds in custody have at least one mental health problem. As we have heard, children who live in low-income households are three times more likely to suffer mental health problems than their more affluent peers are. Despite those alarming statistics, more children and young people are waiting more than 18 weeks to start treatment in specialist CAMHS—up from 26 per cent in 2017-18 to 33 per cent in 2020-21—while the number of those waiting more than a year for treatment trebled between March 2020 and March 2021.
The national improvement framework is the Scottish Government’s key plan and it sets out four priorities for education, which include children and young people’s health and wellbeing. However, data is lacking to assess the wellbeing of children and young people who are learners at school. If we cannot assess whether a national priority is achieved, it is impossible to know what is working and what needs to change.
We heard from Mary Glasgow, the chief executive of Children 1st, at the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee yesterday. She spoke at length about the challenges that families face when their children need support, and we heard about the importance of having good person-centred services, which the Scottish Government frequently mentions but rarely delivers. Good person-centred services should provide a space in which to really listen and understand the needs of the family and the young person; they should not be about what the agency can spare to offer.
Mary Glasgow told us of family wellbeing teams and of the success that those services have had when social and family relationships are fractured and young people suffer anxiety, self-harm tendencies and eating disorders. Young people who get their GP appointment are often told that CAMHS services are the only option, but those family wellbeing teams offer quick and early help, often remove the requirement for CAMHS assessment and provide a safe space in which families and young people can be heard. Those teams are effective and allow the time that is needed to build relationships between the professionals and the families. Unfortunately, funding issues often make it difficult to, in Mary Glasgow’s words,
“replicate the family wellbeing teams across the country”.
As we heard from Ms Mochan, the language that our professionals use often contributes to the stigma. We must start using human language. Often, those who need assistance feel shame and guilt, and the use of the term “being referred” to a service contributes to that feeling. Shame, stigma and guilt must be removed. Those who need assistance have done nothing wrong. They are entitled to support and help, and that must be delivered with respect, kindness and compassion. However, how can a workforce that has reached burn-out deliver compassionate care when they face periods of stress and anxiety? Patients and carers are at the end of their tether.
I want the SNP Government to accept, for once, that things were bad long before Covid. We must stop using Covid to justify our poorly performing services. We need to start making changes now. Our parents and young people deserve better mental health support. There is so much good practice going on across the country; let us find it, fund it and replicate it.
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