175,846 Children Wait Over Two Years for Mental Health Care

Long waits are affecting public services in Scotland, Ireland, England and Alabama, with funding and delivery problems leaving people without timely care or support. In Scotland, more than 30,000 NHS patients were still waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment or hospital treatment at the end of August, and ministers gave no date for clearing the backlog despite several missed targets. In England, at least 175,846 children had waited more than two years for specialist mental health care, as experts warned that ending protected funding for young people’s services could worsen access. In Alabama, more than 2,700 families were on a waitlist for child-care subsidies, with no timeline for assistance because of limited funds. Ireland’s long-delayed national children’s hospital remains unopened nearly two decades after it was approved, amid escalating costs and concerns about the management of major public projects.