Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times
Quarter ending March 2026
Accredited official statistics
- Published
- 02 June 2026 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This quarterly release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) is sourced from the national Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) database and provides an update of how long children and young people waited to start treatment with CAMHS in NHS Scotland for the quarter ending March 2026.
This publication presents the Accredited official statistics derived from the aggregate national data collection on CAMHS waiting times and is to be considered as the most reliable source of CAMHS waiting times data. Due to the ongoing data quality and completeness issues, these data should not be compared to the developing CAMHS data presented in the statistics in development patient level Child, Adolescent, and Psychological Therapies National Dataset (CAPTND).
Unless otherwise stated, this publication presents adjusted waiting times data for the quarter ending March 2026. See the data quality document for more information on adjustments and how periods of patient unavailability are considered.
Main points
In the quarter ending March 2026:
- 91.2% of people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an increase from 90.0% for the previous quarter but a decrease from 91.6% for the same quarter ending March 2025. The Scottish Government standard states that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS. The chart below shows performance in relation to this target over the past 4 years, illustrating the target was first achieved in quarter ending December 2024.
- 3,858 people started treatment in CAMHS. This is an increase of 2.4% (91) from the 3,767 starting treatment in the previous quarter and an increase of 1.8% (68) from the 3,790 patients who started treatment in the quarter ending March 2025.
- 50% of those starting treatment started within 6 weeks of referral, which is an increase from 5 weeks the previous quarter, and an increase from quarter ending March 2025, when 50% also began treatment within five weeks.
- A total of 9,807 children and young people were referred to CAMHS in the quarter ending March 2026. This is an increase of 10.9% (965) from 8,842 referrals in the previous quarter, and an increase of 10.3% (912) from the 8,895 referrals in the quarter ending March 2025.
- At quarter ending March 2026, 4,791 children and young people were on a waiting list to start treatment in CAMHS (see the data quality document for individual board commentaries). This is an increase of 18.0% (732) when compared to the 4,059 waiting to start treatment in the previous quarter, and an increase of 2.5% (117) from 4,674 waiting at quarter end March 2025.
Background
CAMHS consist of multi-disciplinary teams that provide treatment and/or interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems. Note that where a child or young person is waiting on an assessment for a neurodevelopmental (ND) condition, such as autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they may not meet the national referral criteria as set out in the CAMHS national service specification, and therefore will not be counted in CAMHS statistics
Please see the ND activity section of the data quality document, and the national neurodevelopmental specification: principles and standards of care for more information.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be 1 September 2026.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact Brendan de Moor at phs.camh@phs.scot.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.