Hundreds of patients with mental health problems have languished on waiting lists for more than a year, shock figures reveal.
Official data published on Tuesday revealed 2,687 people in Scotland have suffered the huge delays to their treatment, according to figures covering the final quarter of 2018.
Tayside and Fife were among nine of 14 health boards which have failed again to meet a target for young people to start mental health treatment within 18 weeks.
A Lib Dem analysis of the new data found 2,277 adults endured waits for psychological therapies of 53 weeks or more.
At the same time 410 youngsters seeking help from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) support suffered the same fate.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Lib Dem MSP, said: “It is outrageous that well over 2,500 people have had to wait over a year for the mental health treatment they need.
“For children in particular, this must feel like a lifetime.”
He added: “Scottish Liberal Democrats will continue to press for much more investment in mental health.”
Scottish Conservative Annie Wells said: “These waiting times are utterly unacceptable.”
In Tayside, just 49.5% of young people seen between October and December last year started their treatment within 18 weeks.
However, there was a significant improvement in performance in December, when it hit 64.2%.
In Fife, the quarterly figure was up to 83.9%, but 16 youngsters who began their treatment over the quarter in the kingdom waited more than a year.
Nationally, 72.8% were seen within 18 weeks, against the legal target of 90%.
NHS Tayside’s Lorna Wiggin said much has been done in the past year to improve access to CAMHS.
“We now have a dedicated manager and waiting times coordinator for the service, and we have also just successfully recruited a consultant psychiatrist to fill a long-standing vacancy,” the director of acute services said.
“We are determined to continue making improvements to ensure all our children and young people receive the best quality care without delays and we hope to reach the national standard later this year.”
Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey said there has been a 7% increase in the number of children and young people seen by CAMHS compared with the previous quarter.
“Our £250 million package of measures outlined in the latest Programme for Government, will help see more children and young people get the support they need in the community, rather in the acute CAMHS settings that are currently covered by these statistics.
“We have also ensured additional funding to help boards improve their performance against these waiting times.”
