CHILDREN and adults are waiting intolerable lengths of time for autism and ADHD assessments – including one case of over two years in Dumfries and Galloway.
Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson has flagged up issue with waiting lists for neurodevelopmental (ND) assessments.
And he found that in Dumfries and Galloway, the longest wait for the child neurodevelopmental assessment service was 126 weeks.
Furthermore, there are no adult or autism assessments currently available – a situation described by Mr Carson as “unacceptable”.
He said: “Neurodevelopmental care is in crisis because Scottish health boards are handling a mountain of referrals without being given the right tools by the SNP Government to manage them.
“There is no single agreed method of handling referrals, especially ADHD, and different boards are splitting and combining waiting lists.”
The data was provided under Freedom of Information requests by the Scottish Conservatives.
Commenting on it, the MSP added: “The statistics show there is no place to go for Scots facing intolerable waiting lists – every area is maxed out in terms of experts and resources.
“SNP ministers have claimed extra money has gone into the system to speed up assessment pathways, but there is no evidence of where it has gone or what it has achieved.
“This is failing vulnerable children and adults who are waiting four years, in some instances, to see a specialist.
“My fear is that those times are only going to increase in 2025 unless drastic action is taken to address this alarming situation.”
