SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar has promised to end the SNP’s “scandalous” failures on mental health support for young people should he win power in May.

Pointing to waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), which stood at over 4,000 in September, Mr Sarwar said:

“I’ve lost count of the number of families that have told me that they’ve had to take their loved one, their child, to other parts of the UK to get a private diagnosis when it comes to neurodiversity.

“We are going to change that broken system to make sure we have the system that works.”

Pledging a national neurodiversity pathway, the creation of a new system to support children and young people “immediately” after referral, as well as a dedicated community link worker service for all CAMHS teams, he added: “Too many young people face painfully long waits for treatment at CAMHS while thousands are turned away altogether.

“It is scandalous that children and young people are being failed in this way, but John Swinney and the SNP have more excuses than answers.”

SNP candidate for Rutherglen and Cambuslang, and minister for children and young people since 2023, Clare Haughey said: “A larger number of people than ever before require mental health support, but under the SNP we have a record number of staff employed to do just that with our mental health budget set to exceed £1.5 billion this year — that’s as part of a budget Anas Sarwar couldn’t even bring himself to vote for.

“Of course there is work to be done, but John Swinney has a plan for our NHS — including our young people’s mental health — and our plan is working.”