An MP has warned of a “mental health crisis in Fife” and said that “the people of Fife deserve so much better than this”.

The comments come from Melanie Ward, the member of parliament for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy. She also told the Press that the Scottish Government told NHS Fife not to submit a request for funding.

She said: “We have a mental health crisis in Fife and yet the Scottish Government recently told NHS Fife not to even submit a request for funding to bring our mental health provision up to standard.

“Hospital waiting lists are so bad that the Scottish Government have had to issue an apology. This is what 17 years of SNP mismanagement has resulted in. The people of Fife deserve so much better than this.

“Our new budget has given the Scottish Government record levels of funding, with an extra £1.5 billion to spend this year alone and £3.4 billion extra next year.

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“People in Fife deserve decent healthcare and the SNP’s excuses for not providing it have run out of road.”

As reported in the Press last year, NHS Fife said their finances have “probably never been under more strain” after the board admitted they expected to be overspent by £23 million by the end of that financial year.

The Scottish Government then gave NHS Fife £10.2m in additional money from the UK’s HM Treasury.

A spokesperson for NHS Fife said: “NHS Fife and the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership recognise the need to improve our inpatient mental health areas and are committed to doing so as part of our longer-term vision for enhancing mental health services in Fife.

“Work began previously to develop plans for new inpatient mental health facilities in Fife.

“These plans could not progress further at that time due to the freeze on new capital projects announced by Scottish Government in December 2023.

“Our inpatient wards continue to be maintained to as high a standard as possible, with around £1m spent annually from our existing budgets to improve our mental health areas.

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“This work is ongoing and will help ensure that we provide a homely and therapeutic environment for those in our care."

The Scottish Government say that they “maintain their commitment to mental health”.

Mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd said: “Despite difficult decisions about reductions which affect all of Government, we maintain our commitment to mental health and have supported overall increases to mental health spending over a period of years.

“We have also provided extra support for community-based prevention and early intervention and funded more mental health workers in healthcare and justice settings.

“People in distress have been referred to the world-leading Distress Brief Intervention programme to provide timely support and ease pressures on other frontline services.

“We are developing a whole system NHS infrastructure plan which will consider infrastructure needs for the whole of Scotland and support continued safe operation of existing facilities and well as determination of longer-term investment priorities.”