Proposals to limit the number of patients being formally diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been attacked as “rationing” healthcare and pushing children and adults to self-diagnosis via social media.
The comments came before a government review due next week, which is expected to say that patients with ADHD symptoms should not automatically be formally diagnosed, but should be “triaged” and offered support without the need for a formal diagnosis.
Details of this “needs-based” system, first revealed in the Times, would mean NHS services target those most acutely affected by ADHD, such as those at risk of self-harm or unable to work.
Less severely affected people may not be referred for a formal diagnosis to NHS clinics but would be offered help according to a “holistic” assessment of their needs, the report will say.
Proposals to limit the number of patients being formally diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been attacked as “rationing” healthcare and pushing children and adults to self-diagnosis via social media.
The comments came before a government review due next week, which is expected to say that patients with ADHD symptoms should not automatically be formally diagnosed, but should be “triaged” and offered support without the need for a formal diagnosis.
Details of this “needs-based” system, first revealed in the Times, would mean NHS services target those most acutely affected by ADHD, such as those at risk of self-harm or unable to work.
Less severely affected people may not be referred for a formal diagnosis to NHS clinics but would be offered help according to a “holistic” assessment of their needs, the report will say.
The government’s independent review of mental health conditions, autism and ADHD was commissioned in December by the then health secretary, Wes Streeting, amid concerns over the sharp rise of people making sickness benefit claims due to mental health, autism and ADHD diagnoses.
Led by Prof Peter Fonagy, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst at University College London, the interim review concluded that the system forces children and adults to obtain a formal diagnosis in order to get support.
Official figures show that patients are waiting years to be assessed, with 800,000 on NHS waiting lists. Meanwhile, complaints about autism and ADHD services in England have more than tripled in five years.
Source: The Guardian, 17 September 2026
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