Question reference: S6W-23839
- Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 13 December 2023
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that patients in the NHS Forth Valley area have access to assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and what the waiting time currently is for ADHD assessments to be carried out by NHS Forth Valley.
Answer
Data on ADHD assessments and waiting times is not centrally held for adults or for children and young people.
Although it is the responsibility of local Health and Social Care Partnerships to put in place services to meet local needs, including the needs of adults with ADHD, the Scottish Government is engaged in work to improve access to ADHD diagnosis in Scotland.
For children and young people, we have published a National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People which makes it clear that support should be put in place to meet their needs at the earliest opportunity, rather than be dependent on a formal diagnosis. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be quickly and easily accessible. We are currently funding five tests of change to test and implement specific aspects of the National Neurodevelopmental Service Specification and Forth Valley is one of these areas.
For adults, the final report on the adult neurodevelopmental pathway trials, including the findings and recommendations of the trials, was published in March 2023. We have accepted the recommendations and we are working with the National Autism Implementation Team on implementation.