Exclusive:Scots patients waiting over two years for occupational therapy assessments
The Scottish Liberal Democrats warned people are being left with ‘deteriorating mental health’
Patients in Scotland are waiting more than two years for occupational therapy assessments, figures show.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats warned people are being left to wrestle with "unnecessary loss of independence" and "deteriorating mental health".
The party’s health spokesman Adam Harley called on the Scottish government to do more to help people leave hospital and get on with their lives.
Freedom of information requests submitted by the party revealed the longest occupational therapy waits in every council area last year, with patients in the Highlands waiting up to 847 days.
Other regions with long waits included Glasgow (767 days), Edinburgh (697), Perth and Kinross (645), Argyll and Bute (630), Midlothian (592), Falkirk (581), Fife (458) and North Lanarkshire (431).
Meanwhile, there are at least 8,327 people awaiting an occupational therapy assessment, including more than 1,100 in Fife alone. The other areas with the most people waiting were Glasgow (892) and Highland (822).
The council regions reporting the longest average waits were Perth and Kinross (335 days), Edinburgh (175) and Midlothian (128).
Mr Harley said: “These assessments are a crucial part of people being able to get on with their lives and when they are not carried out, their lives are put on hold.
“No one should be left to wrestle with an unnecessary loss of independence, avoidable hospital admissions and deteriorating mental health.
“While there is little doubt that an aging population and increasing numbers of complex cases play a part in this, there’s also a lingering sense that occupational therapy has been undervalued by a string of SNP health secretaries.
“Recruitment has struggled to keep pace with demand and experienced staff are retiring or leaving due to burnout.
“We need safe staffing across the sector. We also need investment in social care to allow people to receive vital care at home.”
First Minister John Swinney has pledged to overhaul the NHS and social care as part of wide-ranging public sector reforms.
This could see the number of health boards slashed from 14 to two, in what Mr Swinney called the most significant structural reform of the NHS in the devolution era.
He said the arrangements in place to manage social care were “overly complex”, with money “being spent in ways that do not deliver the best results for citizens”.
The First Minister suggested there should be “a single line of decision-making, accountability and funding, with the NHS taking the lead”.
Theresa Shearer of Enable, one of Scotland’s largest social care organisations, previously told The Scotsman that ministers must tackle “Dickensian” levels of low pay in the social care sector or their planned reforms will be irrelevant.
She said the wider sector will continue to suffer "horrific" levels of sickness and staff turnover until the issue is addressed.
"Whatever their blueprint is, if it doesn't include sectoral bargaining and parity of pay then the rest of it becomes irrelevant," she said.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Long waits for occupational therapy are not acceptable and health boards and health and social care partnerships are responsible for ensuring people get access to the therapy which they need.
“The number of qualified occupational therapists in NHS Scotland has increased by 22.8% over the last decade and now stands at 2,170.
“We have committed to introducing an occupational therapy earn as you learn degree level course for current healthcare support workers, helping to address workforce challenges identified by NHS boards across Scotland's rural and island communities.”
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