Child, adolescent, and psychological therapies national dataset (CAPTND)
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Report

About this release

This bi-annual release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an update on activity within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) from the Child, Adolescent, and Psychological Therapies National Dataset (CAPTND) in NHS Scotland, for the period between October 2024 and December 2025.

CAPTND is a dataset in development that collates information for mental health services at patient-level and records each individual’s journey through the service from referral to discharge. CAPTND data are still under development therefore any inferences or conclusions from this analysis must be treated with caution, and should not be compared to the official aggregate CAMHS collection and waiting times.

Improving data quality in CAPTND is an ongoing process, meaning data from previous quarters may not be directly comparable to the current reporting period. Changes in data over the past five quarters could be reflective of improved data quality of submissions, rather than necessarily representing an actual increase in service demand.

CAMHS are multi-disciplinary teams that provide treatment and/or interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems. Note that where a child or young person is waiting for an assessment for a neurodevelopmental (ND) condition such as autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they may not meet the national referral criteria as set out in the CAMHS national service specification and therefore will not be counted in these statistics. PHS is commissioned to collect information on CAMHS, excluding ND pathway activity.

This release does not report on the neurodevelopmental (ND) pathway including those children and young people on the neurodevelopmental waiting list. Please see the ND activity section of the data quality document, and the national neurodevelopmental specification: principles and standards of care for more information.

Main points

For CAMHS data recorded in CAPTND across NHS Scotland, in the quarter ending December 2025:

• 8,924 children and young people were referred. This was an increase of 1,315 (17.3%) compared with the 7,609 referrals in the previous quarter, and an increase of 134 (1.5%) compared with the 8,790 referrals in the same quarter ending December 2024.
• Of the 8,924 referrals received, 55.9% were for females and 44.1% for males. These proportions have remained fairly static in the 15 months of reporting shown in this publication.
• The referral acceptance rate was 61.5%; lower than the acceptance rate of 65.1% in the previous quarter, and 69.9% accepted in the same quarter ending December 2024.
• 54,207 CAMHS appointments were recorded in CAPTND. This is a decrease of 0.4% from the 54,452 total recorded appointments in the previous quarter, and an increase of 20.8% from the 44,875 recorded appointments in the same quarter ending December 2024. Note this may be reflective of the improved data quality of submissions, rather than an actual increase in service demand.
• Of the 54,207 appointments recorded, 4,939 had an attendance status of ‘Did Not Attend (DNA)’ resulting in a total DNA rate of 9.1% for all appointments.

Background

PHS is continuing to develop CAPTND and accompanying narratives. There are plans underway to review reporting methods and include additional measures such as waiting times from CAPTND when the data quality of further measures is deemed sufficient. NHS health boards are working with PHS and the Scottish Government to improve the consistency and completeness of the information.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 1 September 2026.