The Court of Session has granted permission for judicial review proceedings against Tayside Health Board and their failure to provide medical assessments and treatments for adults with suspected Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to proceed to a substantive hearing in late July 2026. The case is being pursued by Govern Law Centre.
Bill Colley, on behalf of the Scottish ADHD Coalition, said:
This is an important case which raises a number of issues that will be of interest to anyone affected by ADHD. The main thrust of the challenge is to the legality of the policy adopted by NHS Tayside and other health boards to limit assessment, diagnosis, and thus treatment, to patients who have ADHD and comorbid conditions.
In other words, symptom severity, impairment severity and potential treatment benefits (Quality of Life indicators) need not currently be taken into account when deciding who to treat.
The petitioner is a man with suspected ADHD who has been told that NHS Tayside will not assess him because he does not meet their current criteria and he is arguing that such an approach is discriminatory because ADHD must be seen as a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act regardless of whether or not he has other conditions.
Judicial Reviews are legal tests of policy and decision-making by public bodies and thus the outcome could be that the NHS Tayside policy is unlawful.
Should the courts reach this decision then it will almost inevitably lead to a significant change in the way that the NHS approaches all neurodevelopmental assessments (not just ADHD) for both adults and children and young people and might also lead to claims for compensation for those denied inclusion onto wait lists.
Whilst one limb of the action focuses on Scots law and the devolved decision-making of Scottish health boards, the remainder concerns the UK-wide application of the Equality Act to policy-making in the area of developmental disorders.
If the existing policy is upheld as being unlawful, the court ruling could force the NHS to change current policy and include non-complex ADHD cases into neurodevelopmental patient pathways. This will have profound implications for the services that are currently offered and require an overhaul of clinician recruitment.
The Scottish ADHD Coalition brings together voluntary organisations providing support to adults and children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and their parents, carers and families. You can sign up to our mailing list here, read our FAQs, or find your nearest support group.