Borders MSP Rachael Hamilton has been helping the charity, Place2Be, raise awareness of Children’s Mental Health Week in Parliament. Over the course of last week, the campaign aimed to shine a light on the issue, particularly as mental health in young people has been on the rise over the course of the pandemic.
Ms Hamilton has been a long time campaigner for improvements to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), raising the issue on a number of occasions in the Scottish Parliament.
She hopes that Children’s Mental Health Week can act as a call to action for the Scottish Government to take the issue more seriously, and ensure that services across the country are able to cope with the increased demand brought about by the pandemic.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“Since coming to power 15 years ago, the SNP have badly let down young people who suffer from mental health problems.
“There simply has not been enough investment in services, and the NHS here in Scotland has not been equipped to cope with the demands placed on it by the pandemic in relation to mental health.
“I absolutely understand that NHS staff have been working flat out in dealing with COVID, but I am worried that this is an issue that the Scottish Government are ignoring. Their record on CAMHS was poor before the pandemic hit, and this has only gotten worse since.
“Higher patient numbers do not need to cause record waiting times. The Scottish Government has got to do more to ensure young people can access the services they need.
