Eight-year ADHD backlog at NHS clinics revealed

It would take more than eight years for the NHS to see all adult patients waiting for ADHD assessments in many parts of the UK, a BBC investigation has found.

Through Freedom of Information requests, the BBC has identified 24 services in that position, and nearly 200,000 people waiting.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said no-one should be made to wait years for life-changing care. The new Labour government says delays to ADHD diagnosis are part of a “broken NHS” - which it is working to fix.

The long waits have been caused by rising demand - referrals have increased fourfold since 2019 - and three trusts have closed their waiting lists completely.

The BBC found one trust, Sheffield, has a waiting list of more than 6,000 people and assessed only three patients last year. Only two providers look able to work through their backlogs in less than a year. All four governments in the UK say they are working to improve matters.

There is no official list of adult ADHD service providers in the UK, but the BBC understands there are 70. Sixty-six responded to our request for information and 44 gave the BBC enough information to calculate their backlog.

“We’re seeing more people than ever seeking support from ADHD services which are struggling to meet this demand,” the Royal College of Psychiatrists told the BBC.

NHS England says it has “launched an independent expert taskforce which will investigate the challenges facing ADHD services and help them manage the rising numbers of referrals.”

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Source: BBC News, 25 July 2024

Further reading on the hub: Long waits for ADHD diagnosis and treatment are a patient safety issue