The independent task force set up by the Scottish Government to review child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has published its Delivery Plan for service improvement as the Scottish Government announces £4m for the recruitment of an additional 800 mental health professionals to reduce pressure on services.

The Delivery Plan’s recommendations include reducing the waiting time target for specialist CAMHS treatment by one third to 12 weeks, and preventing young people being referred to specialist care by default through a greater focus on treatment in primary and community based care settings.

Criticism has been aimed at the Scottish Government in recent months over a lack of timely access to mental health services. An audit of rejected referrals to CAMHS in June 2018 prompted the establishment of the taskforce, and last week a report from the Mental Welfare Commission highlighted a continued lack of intensive psychiatric care facilities had led to a rise in the number of children and young people being treated in adult wards. Audit Scotland’s recent report on CAMHS stated a step change was required to improve young people’s mental health,

Praising the “ambitious programme of work” set out by the taskforce, Minister for Mental Health, Clare Haughey, said: “Across Scotland, talented and dedicated mental health staff provide high quality care to young people and are seeing more people than ever. However, our services face a number of challenges, and in particular waiting times for specialist care are unacceptable. That is why we are investing an additional £4 million in CAMHS staff, who will be instrumental in supporting new services and reducing pressure on the system.”

As part of the taskforce’s ongoing work, a detailed work plan for each workstream is expected to be published in April 2019.