Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to reduce waiting times for children who have been referred to the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder pathway.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population including assessments and diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ICBs and NHS Trusts should have due regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline NG87: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management. This NICE guideline aims to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and the quality of care and support that people receive.

The NICE guideline does not recommend a maximum waiting time standard from referral for an assessment of ADHD or from assessment to the point of diagnosis.  Consultant-led mental health services are covered by the National Health Service 18-week maximum waiting time.

We are supporting ICBs to generally expand mental health services through the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to increasing investment into mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 so that an additional two million people can get the support they need.

In a recent Westminster Hall debate held on 1 February 2023, I committed to look at how we can improve data on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE guideline.