Create an emergency fund for ASD (autism) & ADHD assessments
21,147 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 30 June 2021; it closed on 30 December 2021. The Government responded on 14 December 2021. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 6 February 2023.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Create an emergency fund for ASD (autism) & ADHD assessments
The Government should create an emergency fund to deal with the massive waiting lists for autism & ADHD assessments for children AND adults. This would provide resources for local health services deal with current waiting lists and new patients.
The waiting lists for these assessments are massively long up & down the country. In some areas children and adults have to wait years for an assessment. This can cause great distress to those on waiting lists and their families. It's time neurodevelopment is taken seriously. The effects of late diagnosis are well documented. Children diagnosed earlier perform better in school, they are less likely to develop mental health issues later in life. Adults left to wait for such long periods are more likely to develop mental health issues. These are just a few benefits of early diagnosis.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 14 December 2021; the petitions site lists the Department of Health and Social Care as responsible. Its summary:
We are investing £13 million this year to tackle long autism diagnosis waiting times and are supporting children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder throughout the diagnostic process.
The opening 362 words of the 685-word response:
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline ‘Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management’ states people should be waiting no longer than 13 weeks between a referral for an autism assessment and a first appointment. The NICE guideline does not recommend a maximum waiting time for the whole diagnostic pathway, recognising that making a diagnosis can be complex and involve a range of different professionals and agencies.
With respect to assessments for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the NICE guideline ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Diagnosis and Management’ does not recommend a maximum waiting time between first referral and a first assessment for ADHD. However, Clinical Commissioning Groups and National Health Service trusts should have due regard to this NICE guideline, which aims to improve the diagnosis of ADHD, the quality of care and support that people receive.
We want every area to meet NICE guidance for autism assessments, but we recognise this is not happening everywhere. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is largely driven by increased demand for diagnosis services due to growing awareness and recognition of autism over the past few years.
To gain a better understanding of waiting times across the country, we started collecting and reporting data on waiting times for autism diagnosis in November 2019. The latest data from September 2021 indicates that 13% of patients who had been referred for an initial appointment got this within the 13 weeks recommended by NICE. This data is being used by NHS England and Improvement to inform their work to improve waiting times at a local level. We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic may have also made waiting times longer in some areas, because some local systems paused or delayed their diagnosis assessments.
To tackle long waiting times for autism assessments, we are already taking a number of actions as set out in our new national autism strategy, ‘The national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026’. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing £2.5 million in 2021-2022 to test and implement the most effective ways to reduce autism diagnosis waiting times for children and young people, in England.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 368, came from Nuneaton.
21,072 of the signatures were from the UK and 75 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Nuneaton | 368 |
| North Warwickshire | 249 |
| Worthing West | 234 |
| East Worthing and Shoreham | 222 |
| Arfon | 160 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 149 |
| Tunbridge Wells | 119 |
| Hove | 117 |
| Coventry North West | 112 |
| Crawley | 111 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 4,457 |
| West Midlands | 2,280 |
| East of England | 2,176 |
| London | 2,078 |
| North West | 1,871 |
| South West | 1,665 |
| East Midlands | 1,486 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,393 |
| Scotland | 1,193 |
| Wales | 946 |
| North East | 635 |
| Northern Ireland | 199 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 6 February 2023. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/589677.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
6a8217675b1376a7… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.