NEW research highlights “dramatic” increases in the number of people awaiting autism and ADHD assessments in Scotland.
Findings by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) show growths of more than 500% for children and 2200% for adults in some areas since 2020.
At the same time, more than 42,000 children and 23,000 adults were found to be waiting for neurodevelopmental assessments in Scotland.
SPICe said that the number of people waiting for assessments “has increased dramatically since 2020”.
The publishing of this new data comes following the launch of an inquiry last week by a Scottish Parliament committee, which has almost received 600 responses.
Clare Haughey MSP, convener of the Health and Social Care and Sport Committee, said that the inquiry comes after “reports of long waits for neurodevelopmental assessments in Scotland”.
The MSP added: “Data from Scotland’s health boards shows that eight NHS boards currently report waiting times exceeding three years for these conditions.”
She said that they want to understand “what is causing these delays, explore potential solutions, and find out ways to improve treatment pathways and support for individuals with ADHD or ASD”.
SPICe noted that some health boards were not able to provide data about how their waiting lists have increased over time, making it hard to gather the “changing demand” for assessments.
However, they assert that “in all cases, the number of children and adults waiting for a neurodevelopmental assessment has increased significantly since 2020”, with evidence suggesting this is down to an improved understanding of how neurodivergence can present.
Because a “sparsity of data” made it difficult to compare the difference between health boards since 2020, SPICe grouped boards together.
Data from Ayrshire & Arran, Fife, Lothian and Tayside combined demonstrated that the number of children waiting for an assessment grew from 2,475 in 2020 to 14,943 in 2025, a rise of more than 500%.
Further, combining data from health boards in Forth Valley, Highland, Lothian and the Western Isles showed that the number of adults waiting for an assessment rose from 543 in 2020 to 12,974 in 2025.
This shows an increase of more than 2,200%.
Thirteen health boards responded with the number of children waiting for neurodevelopmental assessments, totaling 42,350 as of March 2025 (excluding NHS Grampian who were unable to provide this).
Additionally, nine boards responded to SPICe regarding the number of adults on waiting lists, coming to 23,339 in total.
Lynn Wassell, chief executive at The Donaldson Trust, highlighted how “greater awareness of neurodivergence has led to more people seeking diagnoses”.
Speaking yesterday, she raised the importance of the government prioritising “quarterly data collection on autism and ADHD, including data on waiting times for assessment” and “establishing neurodevelopmental pathways across Scotland”, as well as a need for support to “not depend on diagnosis”.
Speaking today, Mental Wellbeing Minister Tom Arthur said: “Long waits for support are unacceptable and while I know there has been an increased demand for neurodevelopmental support, people are waiting too long to access the support they need.
“We are in the early stages of an improvement journey for neurodevelopmental support and are providing an additional £500,000 of funding to help improve access to care for children, young people and families.
“As I outlined in my statement to Parliament last week, data is not nationally reported or published for neurodevelopmental waiting times and our primary focus is on provision of appropriate support regardless of diagnosis.
“However, I recognise that further work is needed to improve the quality of the data that we have on neurodevelopmental requirements, and we will continue to work with health boards and local authorities to improve our understanding of the quality of the data that is available”.
The detailed findings can be found on SPICe’s website.
