Mental health treatment in Scotland suffering from 'string of broken promises' by SNP, claims Labour

Labour has warned the Scottish Government "cannot be taken seriously" on mental health after funding for services was frozen in the recent Budget despite increasing demand.The party also hit out at a series of cut-backs including the failure to establish Primary Care and Mental Health Wellbeing Services despite a previous commitment to do so in 2021.It comes after a Scottish Parliament report found there was a "workforce crisis" facing NHS psychiatrists and a costly over-reliance on locum doctors.Holyrood's Public Audit Committee warned there was an increasing demand for mental healthcare from Scots - with the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis putting even more pressure on already strained services.But SNP and Green ministers recently froze funding for mental health services at £290m - the same figure as the previous two years - as part of the Scottish Government Budget for 2024/25.Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said Scots requiring mental health support were being let down by a "string of broken promises".He told the Record: "The SNP’s record when it comes to mental health is a litany of failure and a string of broken promises.

This SNP government cannot expect us to take them seriously on mental health."Not only did the Scottish Government withdraw their commitment to fund Primary Care and Mental Health Wellbeing Services but the then minister let boards, who had already been planning these services for almost a year, continue planning for an additional two months before letting them know the funding was no longer coming."These services are just one of a number of plans which have been abandoned due to persistent cuts from this SNP government who have frozen and then cut the mental health budget in-year for two