‘Meteoric rise’ in ADHD referrals among reasons for long mental health waiting lists in Cambridgeshire
A “meteoric rise” in referrals for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the reasons behind the growing waiting lists for mental health services in Cambridgeshire.
Health bosses at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) said it faced “ongoing challenges”.
The CPFT delivers many NHS services in the community, including physical and mental health and specialist services. It also runs Fulbourn Hospital and the Cavell Centre in Peterborough.
Discussing waiting lists for mental and physical health services, a report to the board on 26 March said: “Overall, the trend continues to be upwards, despite concerted efforts to manage them downwards.”
It reported that in December:
- the adult ADHD waiting list stood at 7,017, up 26 per cent since the start of 2024;
- the adult autism waiting list stood at 2,276, up 29 per cent in the same period; and
- the overall adult mental health waiting list, excluding ADHD and autism, had gone down by 40, leaving 3,027 waiting at the end of December.
Children’s mental health waiting lists have also been increasing, with 1,723 waiting for an assessment in January and 2,403 waiting for treatment.
The report said the trust was receiving a “sustained increase” in referrals for ADHD services for children and the learning disability services waiting list for assessment was also “higher than it has been in previous years”.
Holly Sutherland, chief operating officer, said there had been “some really good progress” with adult mental health services, but recognised the waits for adult ADHD and autism services remained “challenging with increasing referrals”.
Ms Sutherland said discussions were ongoing with the Integrated Care Board to find a solution.
Mr Grange said there had been a “meteoric rise” in referrals for ADHD services nationally.
ADHD can cause people to be easily distracted, and can lead them to be hyperactive and impulsive.
Prof Ed Bullmore, a non-executive director, also recognised there had been a “stratospheric increase in referrals for ADHD and autism”.
He also highlighted some of the long waiting times being faced by children for physical health services, including paediatric community nursing.
The report said the longest wait that had been faced for community paediatrics was 76 weeks.
Prof Bullmore said waiting more than a year was “a long time for a child”.
Chair Eileen Milner raised concerns about people with learning disabilities facing longer waiting lists to access support.
She said: “Last week marked the fifth anniversary of lockdown. It feels like a long time ago now.
“I remember saying at the time, we will be living with the consequences of lockdown for a generation at least, and I think we are.
“People with learning disabilities were incredibly adversely impacted in terms of their access to services and support, and in terms of people returning to services and support after the pandemic began to fade, they came back to services not as quickly.
“Seeing the learning disabilities waiting list deteriorating, I am concerned about that. This is a community of people who had very significant Covid impacts and now waiting to access services is compounding that impact further.”
Ms Sutherland highlighted work led by the Integrated Care Board to streamline children’s neurodevelopmental services, so that a child and their family could attend one appointment and see various specialists, rather than face multiple appointments.
“We recognise getting help to children will hopefully prevent issues in adulthood,” she said.
Prof Bullmore believed this would have a “massive impact” for families. He said he knew of a colleague who attended a different clinic every week to get the support needed for a child with a learning disability.
