Health Matters
The number of Tayside youngsters waiting to be seen by mental health services is on the rise, according to a new report.
Bosses at NHS Tayside’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) say since September there have been “small but significant” increases.
Under national targets, 90% of those aged 18 and under should be treated within 18 weeks of being referred, which the health board has consistently met over the past year following vast improvement.
However, the latest NHS Tayside Performance Report states this progress is at risk and the recent rise in demand will likely continue with the easing of lockdown and schools reopening.
Dr Helen Smith, chair of the children and adolescent faulty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said the pandemic has only added to an existing problem.
He said: “These statistics from NHS Tayside are alarming and sadly reflect the picture across Scotland.
“During the pandemic, we’ve seen a rise in the number of referrals, but the truth is mental health services for children and young people were already under-resourced, understaffed and short-changed before the Covid-19 crisis hit.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has admitted her government “took its eye off the ball” on Scotland’s drug death shame.
Speaking during the STV debate on Tuesday night, the SNP leader was questioned on the response to the escalating crisis, which is claiming more than 1,000 lives per year.
Latest figures show Scotland has the highest rate of drugs deaths in Europe, with Dundee having the highest rate in the country.
When asked by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross about the country’s damning statistics, Ms Sturgeon said: “I think we took our eye off the ball.
“I said as much to the Scottish Parliament.
“I set out what we would do to try and turn it around. I set out at the start of this year a £250 million investment programme to build-up rehabilitation services including the residential rehabilitation to make sure we give more support to community services to make sure we provide faster access to treatment and we have a task force working on all of that.”
She added: “I take the view when politicians get things wrong, and we all get things wrong, it is really important to face up that, it is important to recognise that and it is important to set out what we will do to fix that.
“That’s what I have done on drugs deaths. I’ve appointed a minister to lead forward that work and we are determined to turn that around.”
Angela Constance was appointed the drugs death ministerial role, which had previously been the responsibility of Dundee West SNP candidate Joe FitzPatrick
NICOLA Sturgeon was criticised after it emerged tomorrow’s travel-ban easing would not apply to jogging groups and running clubs.
People will be able to travel around Scotland for the first time in months for outdoor socialising, recreation, or “informal” exercise.
But athletics bosses hit out at the Scottish Government for not extending the relaxation to runners taking part in club training sessions or the 288 jogscotland groups, which are often attended by people trying to improve health and fitness.
Governing body scottish athletics said it was “extremely disappointed” and chairman Ian Beattie, a former vice chair of mental health charity SAMH, said it made “no sense”.
Mr Beattie Tweeted: “People allowed to travel all over Scotland to meet friends or family, but can’t travel outside their local authority area to take part in organised training?
“Makes no sense, particularly when mental health benefits of group training are considered.”
Mark Munro, development director at UK Athletics and sportscotland board member, branded it a “shocking decision”.
And in a tweet tagging Nicola Sturgeon he said: “Up to 1 million members in organised sports clubs in Scotland – not one of the smartest political decisions given the timing.“
The restrictions on leaving council areas have been in place for swathes of Scotland since November.
Organised sports groups have been allowed, but with strict limits on numbers and only for people within the same council area.
SNP Health Minister admits covid mistake in transferring patients to care homes
SNP Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has been slammed by opponents after admitting her biggest error during the covid pandemic was to move older people from hospital into care homes without proper precautions Nicola Sturgeon’s Cabinet Secretary for Health made the startling admission in an interview with the BBC’s Nick Robinson.
SNP Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has been slammed by opponents after admitting her biggest error during the covid pandemic was to move older people from hospital into care homes without proper precautions
Nicola Sturgeon’s Cabinet Secretary for Health made the startling admission in an interview with the BBC’s Nick Robinson.
In a clip released before an upcoming interview Freeman said: “We didn’t take the right precautions to make sure that older people leaving hospital going into care homes were as safe as they could be and that was a mistake.”
Care homes were at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus with some residences reporting dozens of deaths in the early stages of the pandemic when 900 elderly people were transferred untested from hospitals to residential settings.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have committed to help provide mental health first aiders for every workplace to help tackle the mental health crisis.
At an election campaign stop in Edinburgh, party leader Willie Rennie said adults regularly waited up to two years for mental health treatment.
This delay had a “huge personal cost” for those affected and employers lost working days to mental health, he said.
The party called for training for mental health first aiders to restart.
In February, the Scottish parliament officially recognised there was a mental health crisis in the country following a Holyrood debate brought by the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Rennie said training for both new mental health first aiders and instructors by Public Health Scotland had been suspended during the pandemic, unlike in England where training switched to a virtual classroom.
FOR the past year there has been an almost daily count of deaths from Covid-19. These grew as the pandemic progressed and just under 10,000 families across Scotland have lost loved ones to this disease. But other causes of death have not disappeared and are no less important.
Cancer is and remains Scotland’s biggest killer, accounting for around 16,000 deaths per year. Huge progress has been made in reducing cases and deaths for some types of cancer, with two in four people surviving cancer for at least ten years. But this has not been the case for liver cancer. Although this cancer is not common, a diagnosis can be devastating for the individuals and families involved. It remains the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the world.
