Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of changes in the diagnosis rates of mental health conditions and neurodivergence in England in the last five years.

No assessment has been made. The independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism will examine the similarities and differences between these conditions, focusing on prevalence, prevention, treatment, and current challenges in clinical services.

It will assess how diagnosis, medicalisation, and treatment impact individual outcomes, including the risks and benefits of medicalisation, and will identify approaches to provide varied support models and pathways, both within and beyond the National Health Service, that promote prevention and early intervention alongside clinical care.

The report will include recommendations for responding to rising need, both within the Government and across the health system and wider public services.