Adults
136
adults waiting for an NHS ADHD assessment
At the current pace, a new referral to a local NHS service could wait about 31 weeks.
33rd longest of 35 areas we have figures for. Middle of all areas: 12 years.
NHS area · Scotland
ADHD assessment in NHS Orkney
Figures come from our own Freedom of Information requests. Last updated 11 August 2026.
At a glance
Children and young people
No current figure
We don't yet have a recent waiting list figure for this area.
We don't have enough recent figures to estimate how long a new referral would wait.
Right to Choose
England only
Right to Choose does not apply in Scotland. Your GP refers you to your local NHS service.
We know of 1 restriction affecting access here. See details
How NHS Orkney compares with other areas
Each dot is one NHS area. Further right means a longer wait at the current pace.
Middle of all areas: 12 yearsThis area: about 31 weeks
010 yrs20 yrs30 yrs40 yrs50 yrs60 yrs70+ yrs
Middle of all areas: 2.7 years
04 yrs8 yrs12 yrs16+ yrs
What does "at the current pace" mean?
We divide the number of people waiting by the number of assessments the service did in the last year. It shows how long someone joining the list today could wait if nothing changes. It is an estimate, not a promise: services can speed up, and some people are seen sooner because of urgency. The NHS standard for non-urgent care is 18 weeks.
Local NHS services
The NHS services that assess people here, with their latest figures.
136 adults waiting across the whole area, according to the NHS Orkney (31 March 2026).
What they told us
FOI 202627-062 (11 Aug 2026): as at 11 August 2026 approximately 136 adults were waiting for an ADHD assessment or a combined ADHD and autism assessment (a proportion of referrals do not specify which; the board thinks this under-represents the ADHD-specific number). COMBINED FIGURE - not graphed. Assessments: CMHT data only runs to August 2025 (8 ADHD diagnoses from 29 referrals); the new NHS Orkney Adult Neurodevelopmental Service was in development August to December 2025 and began AQAS-aligned assessments from spring 2026, with 8 neurodevelopmental assessments in that period - so no reliable 2025/26 assessment count and no effective wait can be derived. The service cannot give an expected wait; it is currently assessing adults referred in November 2024 (roughly 21 months / 90 weeks). Pathway documents are still in draft; assessment (4 to 4.5 hours over several sessions) by a Principal Clinical Psychologist with a childhood informant, followed by a post-diagnostic session and optional referral for medication.
NHS Orkney
Older figures (Mar 2025)
42waiting
69assessed in the year to Mar 2025
~32 wksat current pace
What they told us
NHS Orkney told us via forwarded FOI that they commissions adult ADHD assessments. Key figures: 69 adult assessments in 2024/25; 48 adults currently waiting.
Figures from individual services come from different dates and some services cover more than one area, so they won't add up to the whole-area total.
We don't have figures from individual NHS services here yet.
What is restricting access here
Rules the NHS here has put in place that limit who can be assessed, or how fast.
Adults and children
No clear local pathway
The adult service is still being set up, cannot give waiting times and is now assessing adults referred in November 2024. Children are assessed by children's doctors unless already seen by the child mental health service for complex mental health problems.
Know of a restriction we've missed? Tell us.
What you can do
1
Get updates for this area
We'll email you when new figures or restrictions are published for NHS Orkney, and when complaint letters are ready.
2
Write to the ICB and your MP
Letter templates for this area are being prepared. Sign up and we'll tell you when they're ready.
Coming soon3
Tell us something we've missed
A new restriction, a letter from your trust, a figure that looks wrong. It helps us keep this page accurate.
Sources and how we work
In May 2026 we sent Freedom of Information requests to 1 organisation here. 1 has replied: 0 in full, 1 in part.
| Organisation | Reply | Received | Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Orkney | Partial | 11 August 2026 | View |
Older figures and records (4)
- Mar 2026 NHS Orkney (children) · SourceFOI 202627-062 (11 Aug 2026): NHS Orkney has no separate paediatric neurodevelopmental service and CAMHS has no child ADHD assessment pathway - the CAMHS neurodevelopmental pathway is only for children already open to CAMHS with complex comorbid mental health problems (25 children on that combined neurodevelopmental list). Children without complex comorbidities are assessed by Paediatric Services, for which no figures were given. The number of children given an ADHD assessment in 2025/26 was refused under section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (cost limit). No expected wait could be given.
- Jul 2024 NHS Orkney (adults): 60 waiting, 26 assessed · SourceThe BBC published research on ADHD wait times. They published data by NHS provider. In some cases the provider covers more than one NHS area. We've mapped the BBC data onto your ICB. It reported that in 2024 NHS Orkney had 60 people waiting with 26 seen in 2023/24. Giving an effective wait time of 2.3 years
- Mar 2023 NHS Orkney (adults): 21 waiting · SourceThe NHS Orkney told us via FOI that they did not provide a figure for how many adult ADHD assessments were carried out. around 21 adults were reported to be waiting for an ADHD assessment.
- Mar 2023 NHS Orkney (children) · SourceThe NHS Orkney told us via FOI that they did not provide a figure for how many child ADHD assessments were carried out. they did not provide a figure for how many children were waiting for an ADHD assessment.
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NHS Orkney
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