From the Guardian today, the above, and:

Millions of adults and children in England face being forced to wait longer for mental health care, with more than two-thirds of NHS providers planning to cut services and half expected to axe jobs, the Guardian can reveal.

With mental health services already under extraordinary pressure amid soaring demand for support, experts warned the proposed cuts – drawn up by trusts to plug holes in their finances – would also have “significant” consequences for the wider NHS, the economy and public services.

Key services such as child and adolescent mental health care, talking therapies, addiction support, help for adults undergoing a mental health crisis and community programmes, including those for ethnic minorities and low-income groups, are among those that may be affected.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/07/millions-in-england-face-longer-waits-for-mental-health-care-as-nhs-providers-plan-cuts

Have similar plans been mentioned in Scotland?

No, there are no equivalent high-profile reports or surveys of widespread NHS mental health provider plans in Scotland matching the England situation.

What is the current situation in Scotland?

From Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times Quarter ending March 2026 published today, the above graph showing the 90% target beaten for 6 quarters (3 months) in a row, and:

91.2% of people started treatment within 18 weeks of referral, which is an increase from 90.0% for the previous quarter. 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.

Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times-quarter-ending-march-2026/

How does England compare even before the above threats?

England’s children and young people’s mental health services (often called CYPMHS or CAMHS) perform substantially worse on waiting times than Scotland’s, based on the available national data around the same period (early–mid 2026). Direct like-for-like comparison is imperfect because the countries use different metrics, targets, and data systems, but the contrast is clear.

Scotland is meeting (and has sustained) a 90% within-18-weeks treatment-start target, with half of starters seen in 6 weeks and a relatively manageable national waiting list in the low thousands for treatment starts. England reports median waits measured in many months (often ~10 months or more for meaningful contact/support in recent analyses), far higher proportions of very long waits (1+ or 2+ years for tens or hundreds of thousands), and no matching national performance standard that is being met. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/children-mental-health-crisis-5HjdcGD_2/

Is this being covered by BBC UK, England or even BBC Health? No. Imagine even one Scottish health board was revealed to be planning cuts to mental healthcare for children.