The Scottish Government has not started hiring 1,000 mental health specialists yet despite it being one of their key pledges from the last term of Government.
Ministers confirmed to Scottish Labour that the 2021/22 Programme for Government commitment has “not yet commenced” due to “difficult decisions” set out in November’s emergency budget review.
The key promise said every GP practice would have access to a mental health and wellbeing service by 2026. Labour have claimed that this shows that mental health was not a key priority for First Minister Humza Yousaf during his time as health secretary.
The party's mental health spokesperson Paul Sweeney said Yousaf "cannot run away from this failure." The 2021/22 Programme for Government stated that “By 2026, every GP Practice will have access to a mental health and wellbeing service, funding 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and direct social prescribing.”Mental health minister Maree Todd admitted that the recruitment of these roles has yet to begin in response to a Parliamentary Question submitted by Sweeney.