Nearly One Million On Waiting List For ADHD Assessment

ChrisR777

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/25/two-year-nhs-waiting-times-reveal-struggle-rise-adhd-autism-awareness

figraspberry41

#ChrisR777,

My IT ability will not enable me to read this article but I well believe it. I have an ADHD adult son, he was fortunate that with a lot of opposition from my now ex-husband but through a lot of perseverance from me plus some in put from school, he was diagnosed with multiple conditions including ADHD at about 7 years old. I was trying to find ways to help him and give myself a better understanding, so I did an online course ( must have been a freak accident that I was able to do it!) None the less, I identified my self as sitting on the Autistic Spectrum. It took a "fight" with GP to refer me and back then a year's waiting for assessment but eventually I had the assessment and was diagnosed with Autism. My granddaughter has recently been diagnosed with Autism and her mother was advise (also school) to get her diagnosed for ADHD as well. They were told that the current waiting list is in excess of two years! It does not surprise me that the waiting lists are so long. It is just a shame that people are having to cope with school or work without the additional support they need.

Mary_Scope

Thank you for sharing @ChrisR777. I can't read the full article as it seems to be blocked but is this a two year wait for adults or children?

ChrisR777

I don't always log in to The Guardian, you can still read iit. You just have to click on the cross to read the whole thing.

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1151023#Comment_1151023

I didn't see any mention of age groups, just NHS bodies in England are setting a 2 year minimum wait time for ADHD and autism assessments.

Rosie_Scope

I was able to read it after closing the pop up bit. What did you think of the article @ChrisR777?

I find it sad to see the NHS struggling with this. A diagnosis can mean a lot to someone. And as it says in the article, for young people it can often make a huge difference to what support they can get at school.

I've got no idea what the answer could be to the situation though! I'll be interested to read what Professor Peter Fonagy's final report comes up with when it comes out.

WhatThe

Chris, your title is misleading as the article is about ADHD and autism assessments.

It's also mostly about boys and young men.

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1151051#Comment_1151051

The article claims that 295,000 on the waiting list for autism assessments, the nearly 1,000,000 applied to those awaiting adhd assessments. Both applied to England only, or so I thought anyway. I see the graph mentions boys, it seems to be a little confusing, I agree.

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1151047#Comment_1151047

Well Rosie, I might not be Mr Popular saying this, but the NHS model was never intended to deal with such a wide array of services, not without a massive injection of funding, which requires tax rises (anathema to politicians).

The public seem to want Nordic levels of spending, but with US levels of taxation, which is an impossibility.

WhatThe

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1151070#Comment_1151070

This is Patrick Butler's analysis of a fuller article published 4 days ago. I certainly don't trust the data having been on two different waiting lists for an assessment.