Mental health is just as important as your physical health.
It’s vital that everybody recognises this and either seeks help themselves, should they need it, or provides a positive environment for others to seek help, if they are struggling.
As a society, we’ve come a long way in how we view mental health in recent years. There is now far less of a stigma around seeking additional support.
But we still have a long way to go before everyone gets the help they deserve.
Far too many people are left waiting an incredibly long time to get help. Across Scotland, mental health waiting times are unacceptable. The SNP Government has repeatedly missed its own targets. Worst of all, thousands of children are stuck on waiting lists. The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition is afraid this may create a “lost generation of young people.”
In the Borders, our NHS professionals do a fantastic job and go to incredible lengths to help people with mental health problems. However, they are being held back by systemic issues that the SNP Government has not sorted.
Just last week, Audit Scotland released a report which lays bare the problems. It found that accessing services is slow and complicated for many people.
Audit Scotland also revealed that NHS Borders has the lowest percentage of face-to-face mental health appointments in mainland Scotland. Just 16 per cent of psychological therapy appointments in the Borders take place in-person.
Many people may find online or over-the-phone appointments convenient but it is striking that so many more people are seen remotely in the Borders than other parts of Scotland. Many constituents say that they would prefer a face-to-face, in-person appointment and find those to be more useful. There is a feeling that treatment over the phone or by video just isn’t cutting it. It’s fine sometimes, but not every time, and not for everyone.
This report also shows how stretched our workforce is and how difficult it has been for NHS Borders to recruit and retain key staff. The Audit Scotland report stated that the Borders is “having difficulty recruiting to psychiatry posts and is relying on locums to fill gaps.”
The SNP Government must tackle these systemic problems in staff recruitment and workforce planning. Until they are fixed, people will be left without the help they need.
It's time Humza Yousaf addressed the growing mental health crisis, especially in towns, villages and rural communities.
