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A report warns that unprecedented levels of referrals for autism and ADHD risk overwhelming the health service.
Doctors are referring five times more patients for autism evaluations than in 2019, while the number of medications prescribed for ADHD has increased by 51 percent.
Health leaders warn it is “impossible to imagine” how the NHS can expand quickly enough to cope with the “extraordinary, unforeseen and unprecedented” rise in demand for these services.
The Nuffield Trust think tank, which produced the report, says growth in demand has been driven by changing social attitudes and increased awareness.
It comes after figures released by NHS Digital last month revealed that the number of patients waiting for an autism assessment in England is at its highest level since current data began in April 2019.
Record levels of referrals for autism and ADHD risk overwhelming the health service
Some 172,040 people were on waiting lists in December 2023, compared to 117,020 a year earlier and more than five times the 32,220 registered in December 2019.
Although the National Institute for Health and Healthcare Excellence (Nice) recommends that people with suspected autism be diagnosed within three months of referral, some 147,070 patients had been waiting at least 13 weeks in December, more than six times the 24,250 of December 2019.
People who had a first appointment for suspected autism between October and December last year waited an average of more than nine months to be seen after their referral, compared to four months during the same period in 2019.
Meanwhile, there was a 51 percent increase in the number of patients prescribed medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during the same period.
Within this, there was a 28 percent increase among those aged 10 to 14 and a 146 percent increase among those aged 30 to 34.
Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said: “The extraordinary, unforeseen and unprecedented increase in demand for autism assessments and ADHD treatments has completely overwhelmed the NHS’s ability to meet them.”
‘It is frankly impossible to imagine how the system can grow fast enough to meet this demand.
NHS England announced last week that it would launch a new taskforce to examine a worrying rise in the number of adults and children diagnosed with ADHD.
‘We should not underestimate what this means for children in particular: many schools wait for a formal assessment and diagnosis to access support, and children and their families suffer while they wait.
«We are only now beginning to recognize how many people are neurodiverse.
“The challenge is that we have an outdated health service model to deal with this onslaught of need.”
Estimates show there could be up to 1.2 million autistic people and 2.2 million people with ADHD in England.
NHS England announced last week that it would launch a new taskforce to examine a worrying rise in the number of adults and children diagnosed with ADHD.
Experts have warned that dishonest private clinics are overdiagnosing the disease and have questioned the widespread prescription of powerful stimulant drugs to treat it.
The burgeoning private market is believed to have been boosted by celebrities such as model Katie Price and Love Island star Olivia Attwood speaking out about their ordeal with ADHD and waits of up to ten years for an NHS assessment.
A recent report warned that failing to provide children with effective autism support can lead to a higher prevalence of mental illness and a higher risk of school exclusion.
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “The NHS is fully committed to supporting and improving the lives of people with ADHD and autism, which is why we have published new national guidance to help local areas manage the 50 per cent increase. in the derivations they have seen in recent years. last year.
“NHS England has also launched important work to investigate challenges in the provision of ADHD services and last month launched a cross-sector working group alongside the government, to help provide a joined-up approach for the growing number of people who request support.”