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 (a) autistic and (b) ADHD diagnostic assessments in the Cheshire and Merseyside area.

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 autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.

We are also supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors, and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

The Cheshire and Merseyside ICB advises that it is working with a range of partners to implement standardised pathways or models of care for neurodiversity, primarily ADHD and autism, for both children and young people, and adults. The ambition for both pathways is to enable early help, and the ability to access support without the need for diagnosis. This will ensure people’s needs are met in a more timely way, and enable assessment capacity to focus on those with the greatest need, also enabling waiting times for assessments to be reduced.