Fears have been raised that children with undiagnosed mental health conditions are “falling through the cracks”.
Councillor Michelle McGinty, West Dunbartonshire Council’s deputy leader, says she is deeply concerned children are slipping through the net.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that children and young people referred to specialist mental health services in West Dunbartonshire could be waiting up to two years before they receive treatment.
Speaking at a community planning meeting, Labour member, Councillor McGinty said: “I am really concerned about the statistics we are getting that say young children are being seen for treatment within 18 weeks where they get an initial consultation or telephone call before they are referred for an assessment which can take two to three years.
“What support are we putting in place? What is happening to children who are not getting that support for two years and how is that affecting them at school?
“Are they missing out on their education? What are doing to alleviate these pressures because my concern is that we can’t just be ticking a box.
“It is a long time to wait for those kinds of referrals to take place, to get a diagnosis and to get the specialist treatment and support they need.
“We need to make sure we are not letting these children fall through the cracks and we are putting things in place to support them, that they would be getting the right support as if they had a diagnosis and then relook at it again.
“I am very worried as this is a long time to wait for any assessment or any treatment without knowing what we are actually dealing with.”
The councillor has also claimed that official figures for children’s mental health services have been “fudged”.
The issue was addressed again during a recent community planning meeting, where she claimed the figures appeared more positive than they were.
She voiced concerns that official data was being manipulated as the backlog of children and teenagers waiting to access specialist Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) grows.
The politician had earlier challenged data provided both at an NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) health board on October 25 and at a full meeting of the West Dunbartonshire authority the next day.
The figures for 2021/22 show 96 percent of young people are referred for treatment with 18 weeks – against a target of 90 percent.
Councillor McGinty claims the health board removed patient data from a waiting time list once they had received a consultation – despite them still requiring an assessment.
She said: “It was clear to me that as soon as I saw these figures they did not match what was happening in the community.
“We had a massive backlog of young people in need of an assessment over the pandemic and the suggestion that all of this unmet need had somehow been resolved in just a few short months did not seem believable.
“I knew from casework and talking to parents that they were worried sick about their children who had been waiting two or three years for treatment.
“The parents were telling me that the consultation was only telling them what they already knew but for the NHS this meant that the waiting time target had been met. The child was no closer to getting an assessment or the associated treatment but was removed from the waiting time statistics.
“They also raised concerns that on many occasions the children had only received a telephone consultation and hadn’t even been seen in person.
“The sad fact is that these parents and the children are no better off, the parents still have to face all the worry and stress and the children are losing out as they are not getting access to an essential assessment and diagnosis which leads to the required medical interventions and treatment.
“This is really not good enough and we are letting these children down. I have real concerns that this delay means that many of these children are not being given any support during this wait and it will have a massive detrimental impact on their future.”
The nurtured DIG has confirmed that its priority is to establish a new service for young people experiencing emotional distress with the aim of “ask once get help fast”.
In response, a spokesperson for NHSGGC said: “NHSGGC reports on CAMHS waiting times in line with national guidelines for recording. We aim to help every child and young person who comes to us, prioritising those with the highest clinical risk and those who have been waiting the longest.
“Any patient referred to CAMHS is given a full clinical assessment by our team of mental health experts. The best route of treatment, either with CAMHS or through an alternative pathway, is carefully considered, with the patient and their family consulted throughout.
“NHSGGC measures both the time individuals wait for assessment then for any treatment in order to provide an overall wait from referral to treatment.
“We would like to apologise to anyone who has been waiting longer than expected for an appointment.
“We are working hard, along with our West Dunbartonshire HSCP colleagues who manage CAMHS from an operational perspective, to reduce waiting times across the service.”
