ADHD: Young People

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors. The taskforce is working to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the final report expected in the summer.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop an ADHD data improvement plan to inform future service planning. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

The Lincolnshire ICB advises that it has undertaken a clinical review of its ADHD and autism pathways to address increased demand for children and young people’s (CYP) neurodevelopment assessments. The ICB further advises that implementation of a number of the review’s recommendations has resulted in significantly reduced waiting times for CYP transitioning into adult services. The Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals Group has also invested in additional sleep support capacity as part of the post diagnostic support offer, and is developing proposals for increased specialist ADHD nursing capacity to be introduced in 2026.