CHILDREN in Fife face a wait of more than 18 months to get mental health treatment, according to figures revealed this week.

The situation has been branded as “appalling” by Fife MSP and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie who discovered the delays after a Freedom of Information request.

Young Fifers have to wait 611 days before they are able to get treatment.

“It is appalling to learn that children and young people are still waiting almost two years for the mental health treatment they need,” said Mr Rennie.

“Waiting more than 600 days for help must feel like a lifetime. 

“These new statistics show why the SNP Government was so wrong to reject the opportunity to invest to transform mental health services in its budget. 

“It shows the damage caused by its letting the mental health strategy expire for 15 months. Its replacement has finally been published but charities and pressure groups have rightly declared it lacks ambition, detail and investment.

“Staff are doing their best but there is nowhere near enough resources or early interventions.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson defended the figures and said recent statistics published by ISD Scotland showed the number of children and young people seen by mental health services (CAMHS) within the target time had increased for the second quarter in a row.

“Our recently-published Mental Health Strategy contains a range of actions that focus on prevention and early intervention to meet the mental health needs of children and young people, to help prevent the development of mental health problems, and to step in promptly where they develop,” said the spokesperson.

“We’ve set out 40 initial actions to better join up our services, to refocus them and to deliver them when they are needed. Over the next five years, we will increase the mental health workforce by 800 in key settings like GP surgeries, A&E, prisons and police custody suites, with funding increasing to £35 million.”