On the 17th of May 2023, Labour MSP Jackie Baillie called a debate within the Scottish Parliament on tackling Scotland’s mental health crisis. Within this debate, multiple Scottish Conservative representatives re-iterated their support for providing support to those suffering from mental health problems and called on the Scottish Government to make meaningful steps to address this problem, which has so far been lacking.
For the past decade, Scotland has been facing a crisis in mental health which cuts across societal, regional and generational lines. Currently, around 30 thousand people are on mental health waiting lists, often dictated by regional disparities and the accessibility of local services. As a result, people living in rural areas can find it harder to access services for supporting mental health, which are more remote and with shorter opening times than those within urban areas.
Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, as well as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, focused on this issue during the debate. She argued that:
“The unique problems that are faced by people who live outside Scotland’s major cities, in smaller towns, villages and rural communities, are often overlooked in such debates”.
In her speech, Hamilton discussed problems in receiving mental health support for those living in rural areas. These included social isolation, remoteness from nearby facilities, and social stigma in receiving support for mental health problems. Citing the finding that 80 per cent of farmers under 40 experienced poor mental health, she argued for the Scottish Government to create a network of mental health advisers, recruited from within rural communities, to help provide support across the country.
Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care also discussed the lack of attention which had been paid towards providing support to those with mental health problems. He stated:
“We are at a critical moment for mental health in Scotland. Tess White explained why the SNP strategy is gender-blind. As a general practitioner, I am seeing more and more people with mental health issues, ranging from children to the elderly, and as a result of the SNP cutting funding, we have no link workers”.
“Let us see mental health ambulances and crisis cafes, which the Scottish Conservatives have called for, rolled out across Scotland to help people who are struggling with their mental health to get the support that they need. We call on the SNP-Green Government to implement bespoke solutions for our rural communities, such as establishing networks of trained mental health advisers, which Rachael Hamilton thoroughly explained”.
This debate was held during Mental Health Awareness Week 2023 in the hopes that it could help build momentum for suitably addressing the problem of poor mental health within Scotland. Over the past decades the number of those requiring support has grown, being exacerbated by the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The breadth of ideas expressed within this debate shows that no single action can provide a meaningful solution and that cross-party support is necessary to address this crisis. In this debate, Scottish Conservative MSPs are uniquely placed to provide insight into the unique challenges those living in rural areas face when accessing mental health support facilities.