Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase NHS capacity for ADHD assessments.

The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays in accessing such assessments.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make available the appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to ADHD assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England established an ADHD taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June, with the final report expected later this year. We will carefully consider its recommendations.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan and has also released technical guidance to ICBs to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and to publishing more localised data in future. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.