FIGURES relating to the last quarter of 2018 show that NHS Borders was nowhere near attaining the government target relating to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times.

The government expects 90 percent of all patients referred to CAMHS to wait no longer than 18 weeks for assessment or treatment.

In the Borders, however, only 44.3 percent of young people referred to the service were seen within the target period and the median waiting time was 23 weeks.

These figures have been adjusted to exclude periods of patient unavailability or missed appointments.

Across Scotland 72.8 percent of children referred to CAMHS were seen within the recommended 18-week period.

Only one trust, NHS Grampian, performed worse than NHS Borders over the data collection period.

ISD Scotland, who collated the quarterly data, highlighted the fact that most adult mental health problems originate in childhood as a reason for ensuring timely access to expert mental health input for children and adolescents.

A spokesperson for NHS Borders told the Border Telegraph: “We recognise that for routine referrals there had been an increase in the average time from referral to treatment for patients accessing this service.

“This was due to a combination of staffing availability and overall capacity within the service.

“We have recently been successful in recruiting within this area, which is now having a positive impact on our waiting times and these will continue to improve further over the coming months.

“Patients who have been referred to our CAMHS service as a priority continue to be seen either the same working day or within five working days, dependent on the urgency of the referral.

“We continue to work closely with social care colleagues to provide a diverse and rounded service for young people in the Borders.”