Waiting lists are "diabolical"

The director of a children's charity has slammed waiting lists for ADHD diagnosis in Northern Ireland as "diabolical".

Sarah Salters of ADD-NI was reacting to confirmation of the current waiting times for children and adults awaiting diagnosis who fall under the Belfast Trust.

"The current situation is dire, young people are struggling to live with this condition and having to wait five years for a diagnosis is a life time to the family," said Sarah.

"Adults having to wait for eight years is diabolical for those who are already not in a good place. As secretariate of the APG in Stormont these issues are at the forefront of all our minds." 

A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust, which is the largest integrated health and social care Trust across England, Scotland, Wales and NI, confirmed that waiting lists currently sit at more than five years for children and more than eight for adults.

"The current waiting time for an ADHD assessment for children is more than 5 years," confirmed a spokesperson for Belfast Health & Social Trust.

"We have recruited two Children’s Specialist Nurses to help create capacity and use a multi-disciplinary team approach to help support the management of waiting lists. We also work closely with community and voluntary organisations to signpost parents to for support and guidance."

Meanwhile for those adults waiting for a diagnosis, the Trust confirmed "the current waiting time for an adult ADHD assessment is more than 8 years".

The spokesperson continued: "There are plans to conduct a waiting list validation exercise to help create more capacity within the service," said a spokesperson.

"We acknowledge that waiting times for assessment are longer than we would like and are working with colleagues regionally to try to improve waiting times for these services."

A waiting list validation exercise is when hospital administration staff "contact patients on the waiting list to check if they still wish to remain on the waiting list".