The First Minister will appoint an improvement team to help failing health boards meet waiting times targets amid reports that most young people in Grampian and Tayside are waiting longer than the legally-binding 18-week limit for mental health treatment.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie urged Nicola Sturgeon to use money her Government will receive from a £600 million uplift in mental health spending in England for mental health services in Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon said the Government's spending plans will be revealed in three weeks, but she said ministers are already committed to investing an additional £100 million over the next five years to support mental health treatment.
Speaking at First Minister's Questions, Mr Rennie said: "It's simply not enough.
"We have asked the health minister in June about the shocking waiting times back then. He said he had a recovery plan, but since then it has got worse with 50% of young people in Grampian not getting seen on time, rising to a staggering 70% in Tayside.
"That's hundreds of teenagers waiting for months to get help they need urgently."
Ms Sturgeon said: "Willie Rennie talked rightly about a number of health boards that are facing significant challenges.
"We are establishing an improvement team to work with them to address those challenges."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here