Delays to autism and ADHD assessments at Nottingham schools are “significantly affecting pupil wellbeing and learning”, the city council says.
The delays are manifesting as worsening anxiety symptoms among children and young people, as well as behavioural challenges and impacts on academic engagement.
According to Nottingham City Council, schools reported that 28 per cent of pupils had to wait between 12 to 18 months for an assessment, while 72 per cent of pupils waited more than 18 months.
Schools in the city say waiting times have increased over the last three years, after the authority went to 36 schools across the city to ask about the impact of waiting times for assessments.
The delays have led to parental frustration, and limits to a child’s access to funding and resources to help them.
The problem will be discussed at a council health scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday (October 2).
“The data reveals a widespread increase in the number of pupils waiting (for) assessment, with most schools reporting average waiting times exceeding 18 months,” documents say.
“Schools face limitations in providing support due to a lack of formal diagnoses, which restricts access to resources and coordinated services. Parents and carers report high levels of stress, frustration with healthcare and education systems, and concerns about transitions to secondary education.”
The council’s Neurodevelopmental Pathway & Support Team (NPST) is the starting point for a referral, which the authority says has undergone “significant transformation” to improve it and cut delays.
A new referral form was introduced in April this year to make sure the service gets all information up-front to make the process quicker.
Support sessions have also been introduced for parents and carers with an increased capacity of family support workers, for families on the waiting list.
In adults, the council says wait lists for assessments are even longer.
The Neurodevelopmental Specialist Service (NeSS) was commissioned in April 2021 to provide autism and ADHD assessments, ADHD pharmacological treatment, and short-term, non-pharmacological treatment to adults across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Existing waiting lists from a previous service that was commissioned in 2009, referred to most recently as the Autism Service, were put under the NeSS, along with an additional 800 people from adult mental health services.
Demand for services provided by the NeSS was “immediately high”, the council says, and was only exacerbated by the Covid/coronavirus pandemic.
According to data, the NeSS recieves more than 400 referrals every month, predominently for assessment, and now has a wait list of over three and a half years.
More than 7,000 people are now on the current autism and ADHD waiting lists.
“There are continuing issues regarding demand and capacity, so it is recognised across the care system that future policy and investment needs to enable elongated pathways where health and diagnostic support remain a central component, but are preceded by an earlier offer with a diverse approach to post-diagnostics, discovery and adjustments in wider pathways and services,” documents add.
