Our FOI requests
ADHD Scot submitted Freedom of Information requests to all 14 Scottish NHS health boards asking for ADHD and autism waiting time data. This page publishes everything — what we asked, what each board said, and links to the original responses.
Why we're doing this
NHS waiting times for ADHD and autism assessment are not routinely published in Scotland. People are told there are long waits but are rarely given actual figures. We believe this information should be publicly available.
Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, any person can ask a Scottish public body for information it holds. Health boards must respond within 20 working days. We submitted identical requests to all 14 Scottish NHS health boards on 24 June 2026.
We are publishing the requests and all responses here in full, with only personal contact details removed and so anyone can read exactly what was asked and what each board said.
The request we sent
The following request was submitted to all 14 health boards on 24 June 2026:
Please provide the following two figures for each of the four assessment types listed below, as current point-in-time figures where possible, or alternatively for the most recent available period:
a) The median waiting time in weeks from GP referral to first assessment appointment
b) The total number of people currently on the waiting list
The four assessment types are:
1. Adult ADHD assessment 2. CAMHS (under 18) ADHD assessment 3. Adult autism assessment 4. CAMHS (under 18) autism assessment
If any of the above is not held in a readily reportable format, please provide the nearest available equivalent and indicate what that is.
Requests were submitted via each board's published FOI contact address.
Some NHS health boards do not record the referrals especially for adults by ADHD or Autism and instead it is categorised as a ‘neurodevelopmental assessment’, so it is worth noting.
Acknowledgements and responses are published below as they are received.
What Section 12 means
Some boards have responded by citing Section 12 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This allows a public body to refuse a request if complying would cost more than £600 (roughly 40 hours of staff time). Where a board has done this, we have published their full explanation. A Section 12 refusal does not mean no waiting list exists. It means the board says the data cannot be extracted within the legal cost limit. We are considering whether to challenge these refusals through the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Most recent response received: 9 July 2026
Responses received
Figures provided in days, not weeks - converted by dividing by 7. Caveats - Adult autism waiting list notably low (21).
Adult ADHD & Adult Autism refused under Section 12 (est. cost £10,710, ~8,570 records). CAMHS figures are medians covering all cases triaged for assessment, from all referral routes (not just GP referrals); the letter does not state the point the wait is measured from.
Median waits: adult ADHD 52.3 wks · under-18 ADHD 2.3 wks (all referral sources) · adult autism 24.9 wks · under-18 autism 69.3 wks · under-18 neurodevelopmental 70.3 wks. On the waiting list at 30 Jun 2026: adult ADHD 277 · under-18 neurodevelopmental 164 · adult neurodevelopmental 78. The board notes no adult autism assessments have been completed on its neurodevelopmental pathway since it began in Aug 2024.
Awaiting response
Requests were sent on 24 June 2026. Boards must respond within 20 working days — the deadline is 23 July 2026.
- NHS Borders Acknowledged
- NHS Dumfries & Galloway Acknowledged
- NHS Forth Valley Awaiting response
- NHS Grampian Acknowledged
- NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Awaiting response
- NHS Highland Acknowledged
- NHS Lanarkshire Acknowledged
- NHS Lothian Acknowledged
- NHS Orkney Acknowledged
- NHS Shetland Acknowledged
- NHS Tayside Acknowledged
Your rights
If you are unhappy with how a health board handles an FOI request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days. If you remain unsatisfied after a review, you can apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. The Commissioner can require the board to release the information.
You can submit your own FOI requests to any Scottish public body at any time — you do not need a reason, and you can ask for any information the body holds.
How to make a FOI request — Scottish Information Commissioner ↗