Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of waiting times for ADHD diagnostic appointments.

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 people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We are supporting ICBs to 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.

With respect to assessments and diagnosis for ADHD, ICBs and National Health Service 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 NHS 18 week maximum waiting time.

No specific assessment has been made nationally regarding adequacy of waiting times for ADHD diagnostic appointments. Assessments for and diagnosis of ADHD may be undertaken in a variety of care settings and there is currently no single established dataset to monitor this nationally. NHS Digital is working to improve the quality of relevant datasets, such as the Mental Health Services Dataset and the Community Services dataset.