Health / Data analysis work to give clearer picture on psychological therapy demand
NHS Shetland’s mental health team is working with a data analyst from Public Health Scotland to give a clearer picture on how to meet high demand for psychological therapy.
Director of community health and social care Jo Robinson told a health board meeting this week that the work will “give us the clearest kind of data available in terms of what the level of demand is and what resource is required in order to meet that demand”.
NHS Shetland is repeatedly falling behind the national target for psychological therapy waits.
The target is for 90 per cent of completed waits to be less than 18 weeks, but in the second quarter of 2025/26 the figure sat at 52.3 per cent, with December coming in at 55.6 per cent.
A report to board members said waits have increased after a service level agreement with NHS Orkney, which was in place due to the maternity leave of a consultant psychologist, came to an end.
It added: “The service has begun tackling the patients who have waited the longest for face-to-face therapy from psychology and so overall waits will increase due to this.”
Board member Emma Macdonald questioned at what point NHS Shetland needs to find another way of running and sustaining the service.
“We know that the demand is not manageable within the system we have, so what are we going to do about that?” she asked.
Robinson highlighted the work ongoing with Public Health Scotland, which should give an insight into whether there are sufficient staff or if the health board needs to look at increased investment.
She said a report on this should be delivered in the coming weeks.
Robinson added that the local team is still working closely with Orkney, including in running groups, which was described to be quite a new development in the field.
“That seems to be going quite well and will help to get through some of the waiting times for those people who are comfortable being in groups,” she said.
But Robinson warned “there’s limits to what a very small number of staff can do”.
Questions were also raised over what the picture looked liked in Orkney, with Robinson saying the island neighbours have had a “well developed and matured model for really quite a lot of years now”.
Board member Gaynor Jones also asked whether the service was dealing with new demands, such as ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) diagnosis.
Robinson said ADHD is a separate matter, but added there is service redesign ongoing around how it is diagnosed.
She added there is a “constant challenge” of trying to find savings but while trying to meet new demands.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
