The NHS has made “sustained and significant improvements” in waiting times for children and young people needing specialist mental health help, Scottish Government minister Maree Todd has said.
She praised the “dedication and hard work” of staff working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as figures showed a rise in the number of youngsters starting treatment within 18 months.
However the figures, published by Public Health Scotland, also showed an increase of almost a fifth in the number of patients on the CAMHS waiting list in the first three months of this year.
In the quarter ending March 2026 there were 4,791 children and young people waiting to start their treatment – up 18% on the previous three-month period.
Referrals to CAMHS were also up by 10.9% over the quarter, with 9,807 youngsters referred for specialist help in the first three months of this year.
I am truly pleased to see these sustained and significant improvements in waiting times
The data showed however that the Scottish Government target of having 90% of patients start receiving treatment within 18 weeks of being referred continued to be met.
The first three months of 2026 saw 91.2% of youngsters start getting help within the 18 weeks target time – up from 90% in the previous quarter, but down from the first three months of 2025, when 91.6% started treatment within this time.
A total of 3,858 children and young people started getting specialist CAMHS help in the period January to March 2026, the data showed – with this up from 3,767 in the previous three months.
Half (50%) of those starting treatment did so within six weeks of being referred – while waits of over 18 weeks were at the lowest level since 2013, down nearly 20% in the past year.
Twelve out of 14 NHS boards meanwhile said they had no patients waiting more than a year to get help.
Mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd said the figures “reflect the dedication and hard work of CAMHS teams right across Scotland”, adding she was “truly pleased to see these sustained and significant improvements in waiting times”.
Ms Todd said: “We have increased CAMHS staffing by 51.6% over the last decade, and exceeded our commitment to fund 320 additional posts by 2026 – increasing capacity for cases by over 10,000.
“This investment is making a real difference to children and young people across the country.
“While there is still more to do, and we will not be complacent, today’s figures are genuinely encouraging.
“Long waits remain unacceptable and we will continue to support every Board to meet the standard.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition said: “While we welcome the fact that one in two children referred to CAMHS is now starting treatment within six weeks – compared to one in two starting within 12 weeks before the pandemic – this is still in itself too long and there is much work to do to tackle the current mental health emergency.
“We still have just under 300 children and young people who have been waiting for more than nine months for treatment and 23 more than a year.”
They said with some youngsters “still waiting years for help” these long waits “worsens their mental health and is a sure-fire way to add to their pain”.