Charity threatens legal action over two-year NHS wait for ADHD and autism assessments
ADHD UK has threatened a judicial review against West Yorkshire's NHS board over a newly imposed two-year minimum wait for ADHD and autism assessments, claiming the policy is unlawful. The region is one of several NHS areas restricting access amid soaring demand.
The charity ADHD UK has sent a formal legal letter to NHS West Yorkshire integrated care board (ICB), warning it will pursue a judicial review unless the board scraps a policy introduced this year requiring patients to wait at least two years for ADHD and autism assessments. The rule affects thousands of people across Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield.
West Yorkshire is not alone in rationing access to neurodiversity assessments. It is one of four NHS integrated care boards — alongside Devon, Somerset, and North East and North Cumbria — that have introduced minimum waiting periods as costs have risen sharply due to high demand. A further 11 boards have introduced other measures to limit the number of assessments carried out.
ADHD UK alleges that West Yorkshire ICB failed to follow proper procedure, breaching equalities legislation, denying patients their legal right to choose non-NHS providers, failing to consult patients, carers or the public, and acting against NHS contract regulations. Chief executive Henry Shelford said the charity believed the processes used to introduce the rule had been applied incorrectly, and in some cases improperly, and that blocking patients from exercising choice over their NHS care is illegal.
The charity's letter states there is no published record explaining the decision, no equality impact assessment, no public involvement, no demand-and-capacity analysis and no clinical safety assessment specific to the two-year minimum.
The dispute comes ahead of a government-commissioned review into mental health, ADHD and autism prevalence, led by Professor Peter Fonagy, which is expected to recommend a needs-based system offering support through triage rather than automatic formal diagnosis, along with tighter regulation of private psychiatry clinics.
Corinne Hunter, chief executive of the West Yorkshire charity Stripes, said the ICB gave no advance notice of the policy and that the change was devastating for patients who often delay seeking assessment for years before reaching crisis point. NHS West Yorkshire ICB confirmed it had received the correspondence but declined to comment further given the possibility of legal proceedings.
