“Scottish children and young people have been forced to wait for more than 1,000 days to secure autism and ADHD assessments”, writes Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco of the Herald.
You can read his full piece here.
For the details behind his article, based on Freedom of Information requests to the relevant NHS bodies, please see the grid below or this downloadable file.
| NHS Board | ADHD waiting list | ASD waiting list | ASD/ ADHD waiting list | Autism diagnoses | ADHD diagnoses | ADHD assess waiting time | ASD assess waiting time | ASD/ ADHD assess waiting time |
| (Aug/ Sep ’25) | (Aug/ Sep ’25) | (Aug/ Sep ’25) | 2024 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 | 2025 | |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 485 (via CAMHS) | 862 (via CAMHS) | 917 (via CAMHS) | 231 | 121 | 1,150 days | 1,131 days | 1,064 days |
| Borders | 460 (ADHD and ASD included in CAMHS neurodevelopment assessment) | no data | no data | 203 days (ADHD and ASD included in CAMHS neurodevelopment assessment) | ||||
| Dumfries and Galloway | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data |
| Fife | 330 | 612 | no data | 735 | no data | 714 days | 119 days | no data |
| Forth Valley | 2,876 | neurodevelopemental service includes both | no data | no data | 145 days | neurodevelopemental service – incorporates ASD and ADHD | ||
| Grampian | DELAY | DELAY | DELAY | DELAY | DELAY | DELAY | DELAY | DELAY |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 2,604 | 4,823 | 2,533 | 2,594 | 775 | [issue with source file] | ||
| Highland | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data |
| Lanarkshire | 9,680 | neurodevelopemental service includes both | no data | no data | 745 days | neurodevelopemental service – incorporates ASD and ADHD | ||
| Lothian | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data |
| Orkney | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data | no data |
| Shetland | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response |
| Tayside | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response | no response |
| Western Isles | 10 | 68 | no data | 24 | 7 | 126 days | 294 days | no data |
Totals:
- 3,429 waiting for autism assessment
- 6,365 waiting for ADHD assessment
- 13,116 waiting for unspecified neurodevelopmental service
- 3,450 waiting for ASD+ADHD
- 26,360 waiting for autism or ADHD assessments (via seven boards)
- Three boards did not reply, four refused to answer
We are hugely grateful to Josh for the permission to share this data.
