Meeting of the Parliament 01 April 2025
I commend my colleague Daniel Johnson for securing this members’ business debate, and I thank him and Karen Adam for their openness in talking about their neurodivergent conditions.
It is estimated that more than one in 10 Scots live with a neurodevelopmental condition. Conditions such as ADHD and autism affect many aspects of people’s lives, from their ability to study and progress in their careers to the relationships that they need in order to thrive. Awareness of those conditions has grown, with referrals for ADHD assessment alone increasing by as much as 800 per cent across Scottish health boards between 2019 and 2021, according to a recent Royal College of Psychiatrists report.
Without systematic change, waiting times are predicted to exceed 10 years within the next couple of years. As Daniel Johnson indicated, some people are waiting for as long as 14 years. If the Scottish National Party Government does not take decisive action, children could spend their entire school years without the support that they need. Children cannot wait, and parents cannot wait.
Although those figures might seem overwhelming, there is straightforward support that can make a huge difference to somebody with a neurodevelopmental condition. To access that support, they first need a diagnosis, and there is no dedicated pathway for such cases. Instead, services that are intended for patients with complex mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are absorbing the referrals. That benefits no one. Psychiatrists are leaving because of burnout, and people with severe mental illnesses are not getting the specialist care that they need, while people who are trying to cope with neurodevelopmental conditions are left in limbo. That is fundamentally wrong. The SNP Government is acting as if it hopes that the issue will simply go away. We owe it to the young people and their parents to address the issue as a matter of urgency.
We have already heard that the SNP promised a learning disability, autism and neurodivergence bill but it failed to announce it in the recent programme for government, and we now know that it is shelved. However, we do not need to legislate to make progress.
Meanwhile, the SNP has met its target for child and adolescent mental health services only because it has stopped counting children who have ADHD or autism. No data is collected centrally on the length of waits for neurodevelopmental services. More recently, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has proposed a solution that includes a public health campaign, national self-help resources in the style of NHS Inform, working with the third sector at local level and investing in neurodevelopmental specialists.
I ask the cabinet secretary—or, rather, the minister; I have just promoted her, but, if she does this, we will actually promote her. Will the minister provide a dedicated pathway for those with a neurodevelopmental condition, even if they are still waiting on an official diagnosis? We know that early intervention makes a huge difference. Will the minister commit to recording data on the length of waits, so that there is accountability for those who are experiencing unacceptable delays? Finally, for people with neurodevelopmental conditions, how does the minister intend to meet the Government’s recent commitment that nobody will wait longer than a year to receive treatment—or is the SNP going to let down a generation of young people?
17:22