Today, Health Minister Wes Streeting launched a review into the increased demand for mental health, autism, and ADHD services. The Government want to learn more about why more people are seeking assessment and support, and whether people are on waiting lists who might not need to be.
We welcome this review but most importantly, we want it to lead to better outcomes. The review must listen to autistic people and families, use high-quality data, and focus on more timely and effective support.
Mr Streeting said the review, which will be released in June 2026, will look at the increased demand, ‘through a strictly clinical lens to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know, what we don’t know, and what these patterns tell us about our mental health system, autism and ADHD services.
Earlier this year, Wes Streeting stated that there is an ‘overdiagnosis’ crisis, relating to mental health and the rising numbers of people realising they might be neurodivergent and seeking a formal assessment. We are concerned to hear the term 'overdiagnosis' as it is dismissive to those with these diagnoses and doesn't reflect reality. Most people seeking a diagnosis are facing very real challenges in their everyday lives and often fight for years to get one.
While we welcome an evidence-based approach to understand the growing demand in mental health, autism and ADHD services, it’s crucial that this review leads to better support for those who need it. Right now too many people have to wait until they reach crisis point before getting a diagnosis or support, and that must change. We hope that this review can identify evidence-based solutions for reducing waiting lists and providing people with the support and joined-up services that they need to be happy and well.
Rebecca Sterry, Autistica’s Interim CEO
The announcement of this report comes just two weeks after a House of Lords review of the 2009 Autism Act. The review showed that successive governments have failed to address the urgent needs of autistic people and called for a new lived-experience informed autism strategy to create positive change for autistic people and their families.
We call on the government to carry out this review, but use the evidence gathered to develop a thorough autism strategy with robust commitments to research strategy and service delivery. This review cannot happen in isolation, we must focus on the very real and very urgent needs of autistic people and families.
We are happy to support the government with this review to ensure it is thorough and proactive.