Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism: Diagnosis
(asked on 14th April 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for young people waiting for an (a) ADHD and (b) Autism diagnosis; and what recent discussions he has had with healthcare professionals on this.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
My Rt hon. Friend, The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, regularly discusses a range of matters with healthcare professionals.
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) or autism.
ICBs and NHS trusts should have due regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management; Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: support and management’ and ‘Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management’. These NICE guidelines aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and autism and the quality of care and support that people receive.
In 2022/23 we invested £2.5 million to test and embed improved autism diagnostic pathways. In 2023/24 there is funding of £4.2 million to improve services for autistic children and young people, including, to continue to transform and develop autism assessment and diagnosis services and pre- and post-diagnostic support to children and young people aged zero to 25 years old and continuation of the ‘Autism in Schools’ programme.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. These documents are intended to help the National Health Service and local authorities improve autism assessment services and improve the experience for adults and children who are going through an autism assessment.
The Department is looking into options for improving data collection and reporting on waiting times for ADHD assessments and diagnosis.