From 06:27 am and 5 more times before 09.30, 3 times on Reporting Scotland, on the website and repeated throughout the rest of the morning on GMS, a few hundred thousand will hear something like:

‘Campaigners say child mental health services are cracking at the seams in Scotland and are calling for a major increase in investment. The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition say their research suggests 10% of young people who are 5-16 years-old have a clinically diagnosable mental health problem. They’re calling for more money in this week’s budget and greater support in schools. The Scottish Government say they’re investing in services and fresh guidance has been issued to health boards.’

As the state broadcaster, fighting to preserve the Union, BBC Scotland must do what it can to present an image of Scotland which will cause some to doubt its viability as an independent nation. NHS Scotland is demonstrably superior to NHS England, but it can never be 100% and many of its targets are impossible to hit, so it has become the preferred weapon in what is a proxy war against the SNP. Reports like this will be gobbled up greedily by the Tories and then used to cast doubt on the competence of the Scottish Government and by implication the whole notion of independence.

They haven’t, of course told us that there have been increasing numbers of children seen within target times:

Click to access 2019-09-03-CAMHS-WaitingTimes-Summary.pdf

They haven’t told us about the massive increases in investment by the Scottish Government via health boards, between 50% and 800%, already in the last year:

Click to access WA20200128.pdf

Finally, the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition is a worthy campaigning group but not an independent research group. I can’t find the original report, but I doubt it will be the kind of rigorous, scientific research, necessary for a public service broadcaster to present it without commenting on its nature.  

Footnote: Once more, the National has uncritically joined in with the MSM on this.