£4 million for Mental Health Recruitment to reduce Waiting Times

An additional £4 million will be invested to help reduce waiting times for adult psychological therapies (PT).

The funding will allow Boards to recruit additional mental health professionals enabling more adults requiring PT to be seen. It will also allow practitioners – where appropriate - to use virtual technology to reach people in more remote locations, or those not able to attend in person.

Health boards were allocated £5 million from the Recovery and Renewal Fund in May. This £4 million is additional to that, bringing the total to £9 million this year.

Kenneth Gibson MSP said:

“The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown have placed additional stress on people and as such, on mental health support.

“Staff have been doing their very best to meet these pressures but understandably, long waits have ensued.

“Because the SNP Government is committed to its target of having 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral, it is investing an additional £4 million in mental health professionals trained in applied psychological therapies.

“These additional workers will be instrumental in reducing pressure on the system and ensuring that waiting times are kept as brief as possible, even with the current pressures on our NHS.”

The funding is part of the SNP Government’s £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund.

ENDS