Highland patients have been left waiting for more than eight years before receiving vital mental health treatment, shocking new figures show.
Worrying new data shows one resident has been in the lurch for 3,129 days on a list to begin psychological therapy with the northern health board.
Another patient waited an astonishing 3,019 days before NHS Highland was finally able to offer them the treatment they needed.
It was warned rural Scotland is facing a crisis in helping those struggling with their mental health as figures also showed 69 patients have been on waiting lists for at least two years.
Golspie man Alan Bithell, who is involved with mental health charities, warned the NHS is currently unable to cope.
Responding to the worrying new figures, he said: “I’m not surprised.
“I told the NHS that their response is like dialling 999 because your house is on fire and being told, ‘That’s nice we have a slot for dealing with a house fire for three months on Wednesday.’”
Why is accessing treatment difficult in rural areas?
Mr Bithell said it can be difficult for nurses to visit patients at their homes or GP surgeries in more remote parts of the Highlands.
He also warned living in a more rural area can also pose unique challenges when it comes to being open about your mental health.
He told us: “One of the great problems is – even comparing Inverness to here in Golspie – a community psychiatric nurse is a full-time driver and part-time nurse, just by the spread out nature of people.
“And everybody in a small village knows everybody else’s business. For that reason people will try to cover up how they are.”
The statistics, obtained by the Lib Dems, show lengthy waits for help are a major problem across north.
In the Western Isles, it took 850 days before one patient was able to receive treatment.
A resident in NHS Grampian’s health board waited 780 days before starting their therapy.
A leading mental health charity warned the nation’s mental health crisis may worsen following a real-terms cut to funding in last week’s SNP budget.
Billy Watson, chief executive of the Scottish Association of Mental Health, said: “The mental health services budget faces a real-terms cut, frozen in cash terms.
“Audit Scotland’s recent report on adult mental health warned that the Scottish Government is off-track on mental health spending, and today’s budget does nothing to allay that concern.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “I do not understand how nationalist ministers can hear stories of people in mental torment and respond with budget cuts and inaction.
“If people are put on hold for years on end, their mental state will simply deteriorate.”
For Mr Bithell, getting people in rural communities involved to fill gaps being missed by the NHS can be one solution to help.
The former RAF man, who moved to Scotland in 2009, became active with charity Spirit Advocacy after enduring his own dark battles with mental health.
He told us: What I think the NHS can do is utilise people like myself.
“It’s people who understand that feeling of utter desperation that can then step in.
“It’s good to know you’re not alone, and there’s somebody you can talk with.”
Long waits an ‘outlier’
An NHS Highland spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases, however this is an outlier for waiting times in Highland.
“There can be reasons why any individual may remain on a single waiting list while other priority treatments are undergone.
“Waiting times for psychological therapy have been improving for Highland patients.
“We are aware of the pressures and distress long waiting times are causing the people who are waiting, and their families, and we apologise for this.”
An NHS Grampian spokesperson said: “Focusing on the longest wait does not tell the whole story.
“The average wait for psychological therapies during 2022/23 was 99 days, or a little over three months.”
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