Rejected petition Allow patients to be treated for ADHD under Right to Choose under all NHS Health Boards in Wales
There is a skyrocketing demand for ADHD assessments in adults and children as awareness about neurodivergence has grown. This growth in demand has not been met with a growth in resources, and so people in Wales are waiting excessive lengths of time to be diagnosed and treated.
Allowing Right to Choose will enable patients who have received a diagnosis from a private clinician that meets the NHS' diagnostic standard to be treated under the NHS whilst they are on the waiting list.
More details
In Hywel Dda, as of Oct 2025 one patient had been waiting for 8 1/2 years to be assessed for ADHD.
ADH inhibits executive function, causes emotional dysregulation & impulsivity. This can make people prone to reckless, health-damaging behaviour. Statistics show that people with ADHD are more likely to have an eating disorder, be obese, to abuse substances & alcohol, & to attempt or complete taking their own lives.
ADHD is a deeply serious condition that dramatically reduces one's quality and length of life. In a summit paper presented in 2019 by CHADD, the estimate of how many years ADHD takes off of someone's life if untreated was 9-13 years - more than obesity, smoking, coronary heart disease, poor nutrition and alcohol combined.
Waiting lists won't come down soon - allow us to be treated for a condition that the NHS acknowledges that many of us already have in the meantime until we are assessed on the NHS. This is preventative care that will save money & lives down the line.
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue, or if the Petitions Committee has considered one in the last year.
Another petition calling for this is already collecting signatures: https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/246845
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards
Rejected petitions are published in the language in which they were submitted