Youngsters with mental health difficulties in north-east Scotland are facing an eight month wait just to see a doctor.
Shock new figures reveal that more than half of children and adolescents cannot get an appointment at NHS Grampian within 18 weeks.
The “appalling” statistics also reveal that some patients waited up to eight months to see a doctor – the worst in Scotland.
NHS Grampian said the poor performance was down to staff shortages.
Last night the Scottish Liberal Democrats said the figures were “simply not good enough” and ridiculed the SNP for failing to deliver on a flagship “detailed recovery program” for young mental health patients in the north-east.
The party’s health spokesman, Jim Hume, said: “It is appalling to learn that dozens of children across Scotland are still waiting more than a year to get the crucial mental health treatment they need. This must feel like a lifetime for young people and their families.
“Months after the announcement of a ‘new improvement programme’ and then a ‘detailed recovery programme’ for NHS Grampian, waits in the north-east increased again.
“Fewer than half of children and young people are now being seen within the waiting time target. This is simply not good enough.
“These figures show that children and young people struggling with mental ill health have been left counting the cost of years of under investment from the SNP government.
“This is why Liberal Democrats are clear that we need a step change in the way that we support mental health services in Scotland.”
Of the 278 patients seen, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) in the last quarter of 2015, it took 18 weeks or more for 140 of them to get an appointment, while 90% of patients were seen within 31 weeks.
Mental Health minister Jamie Hepburn said he was “clear that no-one should be waiting this long”.
He added: “(The Scottish Government has) announced an additional £150million for mental health services over the next five years.
“The funding will be partly used to further improve child and adolescent mental health services, help to bring down waiting times and deliver sustainable improvement to services.”
A NHS Grampian spokesman said: “Unfortunately, staff vacancies had a considerable impact on CAMHS capacity throughout the period in question, with an average of 20% fewer staff available in the final quarter of 2015.
“We have undertaken extensive work to improve this situation. In January, for example, we successfully improved staffing levels by around 7% across the service and our efforts to identify and recruit further permanent staff and locums to ease these pressures continue.
“While recruiting to vacant posts remains our key priority, in the meantime, we are also continuing to pro-actively target the longest waiting patients based on clinical need.”