THE SNP government was slammed today for admitting a two-year-old plan to recruit 1,000 mental health specialists has yet to begin.

The recruitment pledge was made as part of the 2021-22 Programme for Government but mental health minister Maree Todd was forced to reveal in answer to a parliamentary question that the plan had “not yet commenced” due to “difficult decisions” in November’s Emergency Budget review.

Recent data has shown a marked increase in demand for mental health support, with related calls to NHS 24 growing by 600 per cent between 2019 and 2022; while children seen by the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) within the 18-week target is 70 per cent, below the 90 per cent target.

Scottish Labour mental health spokesman Paul Sweeney said: “Scotland is in the grip of a mental health crisis: CAMHS are at breaking point, NHS 24 is experiencing record calls relating to mental health and GP practices are buckling under the pressure of unprecedented demand.

“The Scottish government infamously admitted to taking its eye off the ball on Scotland’s drug death crisis and sadly this latest failure shows that it is intent on repeating that negligent approach when it comes to Scotland’s mental health crisis.

“It is time for Humza Yousaf to stand up and be counted. He has now got the top job that he long coveted and it’s long overdue that he finally uses his position to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland.”

Ms Todd said: “Under this government, the mental health workforce has expanded significantly, with record numbers of staff providing more varied support and services to a larger number of people than ever before.

“Since 2007, the numbers of CAMHS and psychology staff alone has more than doubled.”