Henry Shelford, CEO and Co-Founder of ADHD UK, was quoted in the article providing direct advice to the letter writer, as well as offering expert background insight on ADHD to inform the journalist’s reporting.
Four NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) covering large parts of England have introduced a minimum two-year wait before people with suspected ADHD or autism can be assessed, saying they cannot afford the volume of assessments being requested. More broadly, 15 ICBs covering 19 million people are now rationing these assessments in some form to balance their budgets. The clearest example is West Yorkshire ICB, which now requires a two-year minimum wait from referral for anyone seeking an assessment with an independent provider, after its spending on these assessments rose from £7m in 2023-24 to £21m last year. That policy affects the 2.4 million people it covers across Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield.
The restrictions come as 960,000 people in England are waiting for an ADHD assessment and a further 295,000 for an autism assessment, and the curbs are likely to push those who can afford it towards private assessments costing several thousand pounds. Henry Shelford, CEO of ADHD UK, is quoted calling the two-year minimum wait scandalous, arguing that the NHS is denying people care that is available and that would help them stay in work and education and out of crisis services. He describes minimum waits as heartless, dangerous and “institutionalised cruelty.” The campaign group Finally Seen adds that the legal Right to Choose still exists on paper but is in practice being rationed by the calendar. The article also notes the restrictions emerge just before a major government-commissioned review led by Prof Peter Fonagy into rising ADHD, autism and mental health diagnoses, whose 700-page report has been postponed until early next month.
You can read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/24/nhs-integrated-care-boards-england-two-year-waiting-times-adhd-autism-assessments
