The state of ADHD & autism care in Scotland
A clear, sourced picture of what has been promised for ADHD and autism care in Scotland, what the official record actually shows, and where it falls silent.
How to read this page. Everything here comes from published documents, each dated and linked so you can check it. Alongside them sits our own FOI data from all 14 health boards. We're independent, and not tied to any board, government or party. Last reviewed 5 August 2026.
The latest, July 2026
The most recent, and most senior, assessment of the system these promises sit inside.
“Mental health at the fault line”
Independent inquiry demandedOn 30 July 2026 the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland (RCPsychiS) warned that a decade of health and social care integration has fragmented Scotland’s mental health services, and called for an urgent independent inquiry into the impact on patient safety. It names neurodevelopmental services among those affected, and finds the system is now so varied that it is “impossible to accurately map a single national picture”. That is the same wall our own data runs into, board by board.
Reference: Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, “Mental health at the fault line” · 30 July 2026
The 100-day promise
The nearest thing to a firm, dated commitment for adults, and a deadline that falls inside the summer recess.
The Minister for Mental Wellbeing told Parliament on 17 June 2026 that the Government would “engage with stakeholders within the first 100 days of the parliamentary session to agree a route map for implementing the new neurodevelopmental pathway model for adults.”
By the First Minister's own dating (government formed around 24 May 2026), day 100 falls near 1 September, just as Parliament returns from recess. That is the first point this promise can be tested. We will record the outcome here, with its source, when it is published.
References: Scottish Parliament, Official Report, 17 June 2026 · First Minister’s public statement, 13 July 2026
Government & Parliament commitments
Each entry is taken directly from a published source. Status describes where the commitment stands, as of the last review date, not our opinion of it.
Adult neurodevelopmental “route map”
Awaited, due ~1 Sep 2026The Scottish Government committed to bring stakeholders together to agree a route map for implementing a new neurodevelopmental pathway model for adults, within the first 100 days of the parliamentary session.
Reference: Scottish Parliament, Official Report, Minister for Mental Wellbeing · 17 June 2026
£7.5m neurodevelopmental funding (2026–27)
Committed, allocation not publishedThe 2026–27 Scottish Budget provides “over £7.5 million” of new funding to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and care for children and young people. No allocation breakdown, conditions or waiting-time targets are published, and no equivalent adult funding is stated.
Reference: Scottish Budget 2026–27 (Health & Social Care) · 13 January 2026
Revised children’s National Neurodevelopmental Specification
Committed, not yet publishedThe Scottish Government and COSLA committed to revise the children and young people’s Specification, following the 2025 implementation review, as a medium-term action “beyond early 2026”.
Reference: National Neurodevelopmental Specification, Implementation Review · 26 June 2025
Government response to the Health Committee
Response awaitedThe Health, Social Care and Sport Committee called for a national plan for consistent pathways across all boards, a national assessment standard, mandatory referrer training, and routine quarterly reporting of referral and waiting-times data.
Reference: HSCS Committee, “ADHD and autism pathways and support” · 30 January 2026
Government response to the Equalities Committee
Response awaitedThe Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s “Neurodivergence in Scotland” inquiry recommended national diagnostic standards, holistic assessment, shared-care arrangements and mandatory training.
Reference: EHRCJ Committee, “Neurodivergence in Scotland” · 20 March 2026
Children & young people’s ND task force
Established, met Oct & Dec 2025A neurodevelopmental task force was established (£500,000) to share good practice, improve data availability and support implementation of the children’s Specification. Its published remit covers children and young people, not adults.
Reference: Scottish Government ministerial statement · 26 June 2025
An adult national standard or specification
No national standard existsChildren and young people have a National Neurodevelopmental Specification (2021). For adults, the only national document is the NAIT “Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways” report, classified as research and analysis, not a standard. It states there is “no national system for collecting this information”.
Reference: NAIT, Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways report · 31 March 2023
A national waiting-times dataset
Not collected nationallyPublic Health Scotland is commissioned to collect CAMHS data “excluding ND pathway activity”, so neurodevelopmental assessment waits are not counted in the national CAMHS statistics. There is no adult equivalent. No routine national figure for ND assessment waits is published.
Reference: Public Health Scotland, CAMHS waiting times · release of 3 March 2026
What the official record leaves out
The published documents show what is promised. Our own Freedom of Information requests to all 14 boards show what is actually happening: figures that exist nowhere else.
Adult ADHD assessment: median wait, where a board could give a figure
Only 5 of the 14 boards could give an adult ADHD figure, and they range from 38 to 194 weeks. Of the rest: 4 refused under Section 12 (cost), 1 (Dumfries & Galloway) has no adult service, 1 (Lothian) can only report ADHD and autism combined, 177 weeks with 12,769 adults waiting, 1 (Tayside) gave only a Dundee headcount with no median, and 2 have not responded. See the full data →
The national total
Our FOI dataNo official national figure exists for how many people are waiting for an ADHD or autism assessment. Public Health Scotland’s statistics exclude it. So we asked all 14 boards directly. Twelve have answered so far, and we publish each response: the number that officially isn’t collected.
See our FOI tracker →The current picture
Our FOI dataAlmost every figure in public circulation (65,000 waiting, the “500% rise”, the ~76-week median) traces back to a single March 2025 exercise. Our requests refresh it board by board, so the picture is current rather than a year old.
See the waiting-times data →Adult services, board by board
Our FOI dataThere is no national adult standard, so provision varies enormously. Our responses show which boards offer an adult ADHD or autism assessment at all, and where services have paused, closed, or never existed.
See it board by board →This section grows as the remaining boards respond. Each figure is added with its date and a link to the original FOI document, so every claim can be checked.
References
The 11 published documents this page is built on
This page is a factual record maintained by ADHD Scot, an independent, non-clinical information resource. It draws only on documents published by the bodies named above and on our own Freedom of Information requests, and it names no individuals. Commitments are tracked against the dates set out in their own sources. If you believe any entry is out of date or inaccurate, please tell us and we will check it against the source. Last reviewed 5 August 2026.