Scotland’s ADHD Diagnosis Crisis is Failing a Generation

UPDATE: July 2025 – The Crisis Deepens

Since publishing this article, the ADHD diagnosis crisis in Scotland has reached even more alarming depths.

Official NHS Lothian documents have revealed that new adult ADHD referrals in South East Edinburgh now face a 14-year waiting list. This isn’t a typo or estimate – it’s documented in the GP Sub-Committee meeting minutes from June 2024, where committee members notes:

“Community Mental Health psychiatry have recently advised that they are hoping to be able to start seeing adult ADHD referrals again in South East Edinburgh, however the current wait time for those just joining the list is 14 years. This is extremely concerning and has dire consequences for both the patients involved and the GP practices who will need to manage these patients throughout this very lengthy period.”

Fourteen years. This means someone referred today would theoretically be seen around 2038 – assuming the service doesn’t deteriorate further.

This is a complete breakdown of healthcare provision. A 14-year wait effectively means no service exists at all for an entire generation of adults seeking ADHD diagnosis and support.

The human cost is staggering. As I wrote below, untreated ADHD leads to higher rates of mental health problems, substance abuse, unemployment, and relationship breakdown. We’re now asking people to endure more than a decade of these struggles while waiting for help that may never come.

Meanwhile, GP practices – already under enormous pressure – are being asked to manage complex neurodevelopmental cases they’re not equipped to handle. The system is failing everyone: patients, families, and healthcare providers alike.

This South East Edinburgh example validates everything outlined in this article: we’re not dealing with temporary delays or funding hiccups. This is systematic abandonment of people with ADHD and autism, dressed up in the language of “service review” and “pathway optimisation.”

The Scottish Government’s 2021 National Neurodevelopmental Specification promised early intervention and joined-up care. A 14-year wait makes a mockery of these commitments and condemns thousands to suffer in silence.

The time for action isn’t tomorrow – it was yesterday. Every day of delay is another day of preventable suffering.

*Document reference: NHS Lothian Area Medical Committee GP Sub-Committee Minutes, 24th June 2024, Item 8: Community Mental Health Access. Available at: https://lothianlmc.co.uk/assets/minutes/Minutes_Jun_24.pdf*

In Glasgow, a £1.5 million cut just ended a vital ADHD assessment pathway which would have unified diagnosis and support. In Tayside, new referrals have been stopped altogether for assessments of Autism and ADHD in CAMHS – unless children already have a co-existing mental health problem.

Across Scotland, thousands of children and young people with ADHD and autism are not just being delayed diagnosis — their needs are being completely denied.

Early diagnosis isn’t just ‘nice to have’. It’s a matter of brain development, safety, and mental health.

ADHD Diagnosis has long term, significant benefits in all areas of health & well-being

The headlines look good – 90% of children referred to CAMHS seen within 4 weeks. What you don’t see are the 8500 children (at least) on waiting lists that are hidden from these statistics.

A growing body of research confirms what families and clinicians have known for years: an early, timely assessment and accessible support can change the whole direction of a child’s life, and with them, a whole family.

A recent study in Nature Neuroscience showed that children with ADHD who receive treatment early – including medication when appropriate – showed significant long-term improvements in brain function, executive skills, and emotional regulation. Some researchers even claim that early, appropriate medication for ADHD can ‘normalise’ the areas of children’s brains affected by ADHD so that as adults, they are unlikely to suffer the impact of ADHD on work, relationships, health and longevity.

But what happens when their treatment is delayed for years? These children are far more likely to develop co-occurring mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. They’re at increased risk of substance abuse, self-harm, risk-taking behaviours, and long-term unemployment.

The NHS doesn’t save money by delaying diagnosis – it simply shifts the cost from CAMHS into higher tier support, adult mental health, social care, and the justice system.

Girls are being failed twice.

Girls with ADHD are still being diagnosed many years later than boys – if they’re diagnosed at all. Their symptoms are more commonly internalised, masked, or mistaken for anxiety or depression. Without proper assessment, they often fall through the cracks until crisis hits. And the consequences are severe: higher rates of eating disorders, school refusal, self-harm, unplanned pregnancy, underemployment and suicidal ideation.

We are asking these girls to “cope” in silence – and blaming them when they can’t. As a Committed Partner of ‘Find the ADHD Girls‘ my goal is that all girls – and their parents – are able to access professional screening before the age of 8.

Families – and charities – are breaking under the pressure.

Behind every child on a waiting list is a family in limbo. Parents tell me they’ve had to reduce their working hours or give up jobs entirely to manage their child’s support needs, the school meetings, crisis calls, and day-to-day survival. Their own health suffers. Relationships are strained. Divorce rates climb. And all of this is preventable.

Meanwhile, third-sector organisations – often the only support available – are overwhelmed. Waiting lists are closed. Staff are burnt out. And schools are trying to meet complex needs with limited training and dwindling resources. Everyone is being asked to do more with less – while the actual solution (proper assessment and support) is being removed unless parents can afford a private assessment and medication, which many GPs across Scotland have been told they cannot provide a “shared care” agreement.

We already have a roadmap – but it’s now been thrown out the window

In 2021, the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. It sets out clear principles for joined-up, early, and accessible care. But in practice, it’s not happening. Cuts are being made. Referrals are being refused. And children are being left to “wait and see” through their most important formative years – so they may leave school having never received the specific support or treatment they need to fulfil their potential.

There is early intervention support that can be available within the community

John Swinney, first minister

NHS Tayside has simply stopped referring children for assessment NOT because there’s adequate community support – it’s because a 400% increase in referrals for assessment means that a child added to the waiting list now will be too old for CAMHS by the time they are seen.

“Children, young people and their families will be able to access additional support, appropriate for their neurodevelopmental needs, through universal services, such as via the named person, and community based mental health and wellbeing supports and services. Universal services should work closely with professionals working in neurodevelopmental services, relevant health and social care and education services. These professionals should be linked with CAMHS so that children and young people with both neurodevelopmental and mental health support needs can get the additional support they require.” (Scottish Government National Neurodevelopmental Specification, 2021).

This is not an isolated issue. It’s systemic. And it’s more urgent than ever.

These are not just numbers on a waiting list. They are real children with real needs and real potential – if we help them reach it. Every day we delay is a day of distress, disconnection, and diminished future health, work, well-being and potential success.

Scotland MUST do better. We have the knowledge. We have the frameworks. We have incredible professionals within CAMHS and allied professionals. We know what works and research on the effectiveness of Executive Function support in classrooms show that it benefits all children, not just those with autism and ADHD.

What’s missing is the political will to fund and implement them before more lives unravel.

We owe our children more than empty promises and endless waits.

If we want a Scotland where every young person has the chance to thrive, it starts with genuine listening, assessing what we have, creative problem solving WITH the ADHD and autistic community, and then acting. The longer we ignore this crisis or use it for political point-scoring, the greater the damage we’ll face in future.

More About the Author

Katherine Sanders is an accredited ADHD coach, consultant and parent advocate based in Scotland. She works with families, professionals, and late-diagnosed adults using research-based strategies for both executive function and social skills support.

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