ADHD Diagnosis Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Graeme Downie
Main Page: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)Department Debates - View all Graeme Downie's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 day, 8 hours ago)
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Bill Esterson
I do agree. Various Ministers’ answers at oral questions last week referred to the ongoing work. I know we are due a response in the summer; this is my opportunity to say directly to the Minister that sometimes, when Governments say they are going to respond in the summer, that is a very loose term. I hope that, in this case, it means early summer. Perhaps the Minister will come back to us with a bit more clarity on when he expects to respond.
Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)
My hon. Friend is being incredibly generous with giving way. Oddly, I was told by a Scottish Education Minister on the BBC recently that a diagnosis was not required in Scotland either to get the right support—we all know from our experiences that that is not the case. In Fife, we have more than 40,000 children waiting for neurodevelopmental assessments and there are no pathways at all for adults. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that we get this right across the United Kingdom, and that the Scottish Government also need to get their skates on and take some action?
Bill Esterson
Let us hope that someone from the Scottish Government is listening to the debate and acting on my hon. Friend’s request. We were talking before about the importance of supporting children to avoid stigma in education and ensure that support is in place, that staff understand and that they can improve their chances at school and beyond.