Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in Suffolk.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
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 access to assessment and treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis.
Whilst the Department has not made a specific assessment, Suffolk and North East Essex ICB advises that it has undertaken a review of children’s ADHD and autism services. As a result of the review, and current demand, the ICB has agreed additional funding of £3.3 million to support the services to not only reduce the time children are waiting for assessment but also increase the service provision to meet future demand. The ICB is also looking at potential new models of delivery and at the current pathways to see how it can utilise them more efficiently to ensure a smoother process for families.
In respect of adult ADHD and autism services, the ICB has worked closely with its local National Health Service provider, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, to closely monitor and respond to increases in demand. In March 2024, the ICB agreed to invest £300,000 to support those patients on the waiting list with additional advice and support.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Mentions:
1: McNair, Marie (SNP - Clydebank and Milngavie) In addition, people with Down’s syndrome, autism or learning disabilities are statistically more likely - Speech Link
Asked by: Eagle, Tim (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will support NHS boards, in light of NHS Highland reportedly stating that it is no longer able to provide its pilot service for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment due to the ending of the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund.
Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport
The Scottish Government provided funding for adult neurodevelopmental pathway trials in 2022. Following the adult neurodevelopmental pilots, a final report was published in March 2023 outlining what is required to provide a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental approach across Scotland. The Scottish Government has accepted the recommendations and we are working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) on implementation. This included launching a new Neuro-affirming Community of Practice in October last year.
The Scottish Government funds the NAIT to support local areas to improve their neurodevelopmental support and diagnosis for adults. Additionally, the Scottish Government has commissioned work through NHS Education for Scotland and the NAIT to provide a range of professional learning about ADHD and neurodevelopmental conditions.
Report May. 21 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: training 7 Learning disability nurses 8 Learning disability register 10 Autism assessments 13 Autism
Report May. 21 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: training 7 Learning disability nurses 8 Learning disability register 10 Autism assessments 13 Autism
Report May. 21 2024
Committee: Women and Equalities CommitteeFound: needs to do. 2 About 1.3 million people in England have a learning disability and 1 in 3 of those have autism
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of NHS England’s ability to categorise neuro-developmental conditions in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The term neurodevelopmental condition encompasses a wide range of conditions. The majority of services for neurodevelopmental conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). There is no singular dataset which provides data on the number of all neurodevelopmental conditions by region. There are, however, some datasets which provide useful information nationally and locally on the numbers of people being referred for assessments or diagnosed with specific neurodevelopmental conditions, to support local service commissioning and provision. This includes the autism waiting times statistics, the Assuring Transformation data collection, the Mental Health Services Data Set, Community Services Data Set, and the Commissioning Data Sets. There is also an indicator in the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service monthly publication which is a count of all patients that have a diagnosis of autism in their general practice (GP) records, by each GP.
No assessment has been made of NHS England’s ability to categorise neurodevelopmental conditions in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and ICBs, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance for which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
Patients with neurodevelopmental conditions are not categorised by NHS England as to whether they meet the definition of disabled under the Equality Act 2010, and nor does the act require this.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Departments monitors the number of neuro-developmental conditions confirmed by NHS England by region.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The term neurodevelopmental condition encompasses a wide range of conditions. The majority of services for neurodevelopmental conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). There is no singular dataset which provides data on the number of all neurodevelopmental conditions by region. There are, however, some datasets which provide useful information nationally and locally on the numbers of people being referred for assessments or diagnosed with specific neurodevelopmental conditions, to support local service commissioning and provision. This includes the autism waiting times statistics, the Assuring Transformation data collection, the Mental Health Services Data Set, Community Services Data Set, and the Commissioning Data Sets. There is also an indicator in the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service monthly publication which is a count of all patients that have a diagnosis of autism in their general practice (GP) records, by each GP.
No assessment has been made of NHS England’s ability to categorise neurodevelopmental conditions in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. It is for individual National Health Service organisations, including NHS trusts and ICBs, to comply with the Equality Act 2010, guidance for which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
The act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Further information can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010
Patients with neurodevelopmental conditions are not categorised by NHS England as to whether they meet the definition of disabled under the Equality Act 2010, and nor does the act require this.
Written Evidence May. 20 2024
Inquiry: The UK Government’s support of education for Overseas Territories studentsFound: educational needs and disabilities, particularly in relation to communication difficulties and autism
May. 20 2024
Source Page: Five Wells Prison: Action PlanFound: Activities planned so far is rental of an Autism experience bus for 120 staff to participate in June