4th March 2025

Reacting to the latest CAMHS stats (4th March 2025), Billy Watson, Chief Executive of SAMH (Scottish Action For Mental Health) said:

“We're encouraged by the news that the Scottish Government has met its CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) waiting times target for the very first time. However, the number of rejections from CAMHS services now sits at over a quarter (29.2%), which is the highest since 2014.

"We're doing all we can to help young people manage their mental health and support each other, to reduce that flow to CAMHS. We've supported more than 15,000 young people and their families and supporters through prevention and early intervention projects in the last two years.

"What is clearly needed is easily accessible mental health support within communities for those young people whose needs can be met at a much earlier stage through non-clinical community-based support which would reduce the number of referrals to CAMHS.”