NHS plan to triage ADHD diagnoses attacked as rationing
A government review recommends limiting formal ADHD diagnoses and triaging patients by severity, sparking concerns about access to support.
What to know
- A government review due next week is expected to recommend limiting formal ADHD diagnoses and triaging patients by severity, offering support without diagnosis for less severe cases.
- ADHD UK and other experts argue the proposal amounts to healthcare rationing and will push people toward unverified self-diagnosis on social media instead of evidence-based clinical assessment.
- With 800,000 on NHS ADHD waiting lists and complaints tripling in five years, the review aims to focus resources on the most severely affected while offering holistic support (flexible hours, quiet spaces, parental classes) to others without formal diagnosis.
- The core dispute centers on whether formal diagnosis is necessary for accessing workplace adjustments and educational support, or whether these can be provided through needs-based assessment alone.
The dispute Whether formal diagnosis is a gatekeeping mechanism that must be preserved for access to support, or whether it is an unnecessary bureaucratic step that prevents scarce resources from reaching the most severely affected. · positions read across 7 posts and comments
Formal diagnosis gatekeeps essential support; removing it will leave people vulnerable and push them to social media self-diagnosis.
-
“Without a formal diagnosis children won't get support at school, and adults won't get any needed adjustments at work.”
tiggy@mastodonapp.uk · Mastodon ↗
Rationing by severity is justified and necessary given NHS resource limits; support can be provided without formal diagnosis.
-
“Severe cases should rightly be identified and prioritised for care, and more mild cases dealt with differently.”
Obvious_Gas_1831 · Reddit ↗
Prof Peter Fonagy Lead of government ADHD/autism/mental health reviewHenry Shelford Chief executive of ADHD UK
Wes Streeting Former health secretary
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
-
2
ADHD UK and experts condemn proposal as rationing
ADHD UK's chief executive Henry Shelford attacks the proposals as rationing healthcare. Experts warn the system will introduce service rationing and push children and adults toward self-diagnosis via social media rather than formal medical assessment.
“Without a formal diagnosis, it appears we will be left to self-diagnose via social media.”
— Henry Shelford, chief executive of ADHD UK -
1 outlet Plan to limit number of NHS patients diagnosed with ADHD attacked as ‘rationing’ healthcare
first by Guardian, 6d ago
-
Firstly, let’s not be derogatory about the pharmaceutical support offered to those with ADHD. They don’t get “pills” but medicine, specifically medicine specified in the NICE guidelines which are put together by experts. Secondly, you’re not actually supporting the argument you think you are. You start by making a clearly bias and uniformed…
2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
-
T
Another move away from supporting people. Without a formal diagnosis children won't get support at school, and adults won't get any needed adjustments at work. It's not unexpected, successive governments in recent years have fed stories about benefit fraud, about 'too many' claimants, and recently about the cost of support for SEND students to a…
-
The problem continues to be scale though. Additional support at schools, quiet spaces, therapeutic roots - all expensive, in many cases subject to postcode lottery, and just shifts the queue from one place to another. It’s potentially worse for adults. Employers aren’t exactly going to bring in additional support, Job Centres are overrun with…
-
-
1
Fonagy review expected to recommend needs-based triaging system
The government review, led by clinical psychologist Prof Peter Fonagy at University College London, is due next week and expected to recommend that patients with ADHD symptoms should not automatically receive formal diagnosis but instead be triaged and offered support based on a holistic assessment of their needs. Only those most severely affected or needing medication would be referred to ADHD clinics.
“There is no 'mild' ADHD. Diagnosis requires evidence of a debilitating impact on your life. We already have a clinically drawn line of need.”
— Henry Shelford, chief executive of ADHD UK -
background
Government commissions review of ADHD, autism, mental health diagnoses — Health secretary Wes Streeting commissions an independent review of mental health conditions, autism and ADHD amid concerns over rising sickness benefit claims linked to these diagnoses.
What people are saying 4 voices from 1 site · best of 7 · verbatim
- Sep 17
-
And so it begins. Any attempts to reform failing systems in this country come with howls of protest. Severe cases should rightly be identified and prioritised for care, and more mild cases dealt with differently. Everyone is so worried about losing out on the perks and benefits they can get, they try to block it.
-
They already do to an extent. I have ADHD, was diagnosed as a kid and treated until I turned 18 where they told me if I wanted to stop taking medication it would have to be done alongside taking away my statement. A couple of years ago I tried to get my statement back and was told that I didn’t qualify for diagnosis because I wasn’t destitute and…
-
We ration care all over the NHS - we can't afford for everyone to have the best possible care.
-
Sadly there are countries where this happens. The insurance companies pull a number out of nowhere and decide that that's the amount of treatments per financial year authorised. So you really should've consulted the charts and spreadsheets, and thought about the dividends the shareholders expect first before you went and selfishly got colon cancer.