Child, adolescent, and psychological therapies national dataset (CAPTND)
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Referrals Report and Psychological Therapies Referrals Report (October 2022 – December 2023)

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides two updates on the number of individuals referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMSH) and to Psychological Therapies (PT) from the Child, Adolescent, and Psychological Therapies National Dataset (CAPTND) in NHS Scotland for the quarter ending December 2023.

Main points

For CAMHS the quarter ending December 2023:

• A total of 9,720 children and young people referred to CAMHS recorded in CAPTND. This is an increase of 1,828 (23.2%) compared with the previous quarter, and a decrease of 489 (-4.8%) compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
• CAMHS across Scotland received 5,343 (55.0%) referrals for females and 4,375 (45.0%) for males.

Line chart showing the number of children and young people referred to CAMHS across Scotland, between October 2022 and December 2023. This shows a slight downward trend in the number of referrals to CAMHS from October 2022 to July 2023, with the number of monthly referrals decreasing from 3,210 to 2,061 over this period. However, since August 2023 the number of individuals referred to CAMHS increased consistently to 3,700 in November 2023. In December 2023 this decreased again to 2,755 children and young people referred.

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Figure 1: CAMHS referrals (October 2022-December 2023), NHS Scotland

For PT quarter ending December 2023:

• A total of 27,071 individuals referred to PT services recorded in CAPTND. This is an increase of 1,284 (5.0%) compared with the previous quarter, and an increase of 3,300 (13.9%) compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
• Psychological Services across Scotland received 16,756 (61.9%) referrals for females and 9,214 (34.0%) for males.

Line chart showing the number of people referred to PT services across Scotland, between October 2022 and December 2023. This shows a consistent trend in the number of referrals to PT from October 2022 to July 2023, with between 6,417 and 9,112 individuals referred per month over this period. However, August 2023 saw the number of individuals referred to PT increase to consistently over 8,000 per month, peaking in November 2023 when 10,402 referrals were recorded. In December 2023 this decreased to 7,576 individuals referred, in line with the reduction in referrals in December the previous year.

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Figure 2: PT referrals (October 2022-December 2023), NHS Scotland

Background

Waiting times information for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and psychological therapies using CAPTND is still being developed. NHS Boards are working with PHS and the Scottish Government to improve the consistency and completeness of the information.

CAMHS are multi-disciplinary teams that provide treatment and/or interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems.  Where a child or young person is awaiting an assessment for a neurodevelopmental condition such as ASD, or ADHD, they may not be appropriate for CAMHS.  This release does not report on the neurodevelopmental (ND) pathway including those children and young people on the neurodevelopmental waiting list.

Psychological therapies refer to a range of interventions, based on psychological concepts and theory, which are designed to help people understand and make changes to their thinking, behaviour and relationships in order to relieve distress and to improve functioning. The standard applies specifically to psychological therapies for treatment of a mental illness or disorder.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 3 September 2024.