Update on all age autism and ADHD assessments in Lancashire and South Cumbria

Over the past five years, requests for the assessment and treatment of ADHD and autism assessment have risen significantly across Lancashire and South Cumbria. This is the same for adult as well as children and young people’s services. It also reflects a national trend.

This has placed immense strain on services in the NHS, leading to long waits for assessment, and an increase in referrals to services outside the area, under patient choice (right to choose) legislation.

No additional funding has been made available to support this work, and despite a five-fold increase in investment by the ICB over the past 12 months, we still cannot meet the demand for care in relation to people experiencing symptoms of ADHD or in need of an autism assessment.

It has therefore become crucial to explore ways of helping people that are both affordable yet still offering high-quality services for those who need them.

From April 2026 onwards, we have developed activity plans for providers of adult ADHD services. These will reduce the number of clinical assessments for patients who have waited less than 52 weeks.

From September 2026 onwards, we are developing activity plans for providers of children and young people’s and adult autism services and children and young people’s ADHD services that will reduce the number of clinical assessments for patients who have waiting less than 52 weeks.

The aim of this, is to help services focus on those who have waited longer, and to invest in much-needed non-clinical support. We have acted on feedback from people who have asked for non-clinical or non-medical support. This sort of support can help people cope and manage their daily lives better. 

The changes will likely contribute to increased waiting times in the short-term for patients registered to providers with the shortest waits. This is likely to impact all providers delivering services under patient choice (right to choose) legislation, given they generally have the shorter waiting times than local providers.

We recognise that this may be of concern to anyone affected. We would like to reassure people that this is a necessary short-term measure to enable us to address a system that people tell us is clearly not working for everyone.

We want to improve the support and services available and ensure that anyone who seeks help is offered this help in an effective and timely manner. Services will be made available to support people affected by these changes, and information will be shared to support this in due course.

In the future, services will be allocated based on need, with the development of new care pathways to support people sooner, alongside traditional clinical services. This work is being done in collaboration with the public, including dedicated public engagement sessions, to ensure that people can contribute to us and help create effective and sustainable services for the future.

This includes the development of an entirely new service to help people cope better with the symptoms of ADHD, including education, peer support, and interactive sessions to discuss experiences of living with ADHD.

The ICB is working closely with local NHS providers to redesign and implement a children and young people’s neurodevelopmental care pathway, with a focus on early support in addition to assessment and treatment.

In addition to this, the ICB is working closely with a network of Voluntary Community and Faith Sector partners to establish “Nue Way” an early support and guidance hub for neurodevelopment: LSC Integrated Care Board :: New support service launches across Lancashire and South Cumbria

Finally, the ICB is in the process of establishing an all-age provider accreditation scheme for ADHD and autism ensuring patient choice providers operate to locally defined clinical models, increasing the ICB ability to retain oversight of waiting lists and support swifter access.

These changes are being directly managed between the ICB, who commission ADHD and autism services, and providers of ADHD and autism services. Patients are advised that they should not contact their GP practice, as GP practices cannot influence patient care once a referral to another provider has been made.

Patients will be contacted in due course by the ADHD or autism service supporting their care with any relevant information. We do not wish for these busy services to be inundated with an unmanageable number of queries and requests, so would encourage you to keep checking the ICB website for updated guidance: LSC Integrated Care Board :: Right to Choose and Private Autism and ADHD Assessments

Patients who have waited more than 12 months for an assessment are now more likely to be prioritised, but there will still be some delay due to the many people requiring a service. We ask for your patience as we work through outstanding referrals.

Please refer to the following page for more information and a range of helpful ADHD resources, which will include details of any future services once they become available:

https://www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk/adult-adhd.

ADHD Northwest support adults and children and young people and their families affected by ADHD to thrive – offering support, education and training

https://www.adhdnorthwest.org.uk

Autism Unlocked is a dedicated online space for autistic people and their families to receive expert advice and guidance on a range of issues.

Featuring videos, blogs and podcasts, all content is made with those who experience autism every day, whether that be an autistic individual, a parent of an autistic child, or a clinician who specialises in autism.

https://www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk/our-work/learning-disabilities/autism-unlocked

Updates and guidance on the children and young people Neurodevelopmental Pathway can be found here:

https://www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk/our-work/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send/neurodevelopmental-pathway

Nue Way Support offer personalised advice, guidance and practical help based on need rather than diagnosis for families who are navigating concerns about autism, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental differences.

https://springnorth.org.uk/projects/neu-way-support/

We know that some people seeking support for ADHD and autism may also have other emotional or mental health associated difficulties relating to their experiences of living with ADHD and autism. If this is the case, it is possible to request help by contacting NHS Taking Therapies directly: 

https://www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk/our-work/mental-health/support/Talking-therapy-services.

If you have any immediate concerns in relation to the mental health and wellbeing of yourself or a loved one, as a consequence of these changes, please call 111 and select option 2, or call the Initial Response Service on 0800 953 0110.

We recognise that these changes will be of concern to some people, but we ask for your patience and understanding while we work to improve the services we offer for our population. We want to ensure that nobody goes without support when they ask for help. The current system does not allow for this, and we need to make these changes to enable better services for the future.

Any complaints can be directed to the ICB using the following email address:

lscicb-fw.patientexperience@nhs.net.