The Scottish Liberal Democrats have said action is “long overdue” on children’s mental health care as new figures show long waits for treatment.
The party sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to health boards across Scotland which revealed that in some areas children are still waiting more than a year for mental health care.
The new figures show that in NHS Lothian 81 children waited over 14 months to start treatment in 2025/26 and the longest a child waited to start treatment was 648 days in NHS Highland and 565 days in NHS Lanarkshire.
The longest waiting time for children currently waiting to start treatment is 455 days in NHS Borders and 578 days in NHS Lanarkshire.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the figures reveal “the brutal extent” of Scotland’s mental health crisis.
He said: “This reveals the brutal extent of Scotland’s mental health crisis, a crisis which the SNP have spent the last two decades ignoring.
“The Scottish Government have so far chosen to spin the mental health emergency rather than solve it, failing to acknowledge the number of children whose referrals for treatment are being rejected by the system that ministers put in place.
Action is long overdue. Making children wait over a year for help risks problems spiralling.
“Action is long overdue. Making children wait over a year for help risks problems spiralling.
“It’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats used the election campaign to talk about recruiting and retaining more mental health staff and providing new walk-in services for those in crisis.
“With more MSPs and more seats, Scottish Liberal Democrats will be fighting to make those plans a reality in the coming weeks and months, delivering a vision for change with fairness at its heart.”
Mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd said: “Over the last year, specialist children and adolescent mental health services have exceeded the national standard, with over 90% of children and young people starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral and around one in two beginning treatment within five weeks of referral.
“We have invested over £164 million in community-based mental health supports for both adults and young people and are ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to 24/7 mental health support.
“We know, however, that there is much more to do, which is why our budget this year includes record funding of £22.5 billion for health and social care.”