2026-09-20 · Daily Mail
🔮 Increased awareness of the condition has driven up waits for NHS assessments and in turn pushed patients towards private clinics.
Some patients pay more than £1,000 for a consultation while others are able to secure an NHS referral to an assessor of their choice, with taxpayers footing the bill.
The diagnosis can aid benefits claims, such as personal independence payments, which have soared in recent years.
Family doctors estimated that more than eight in ten patients referred for specialist assessments ultimately received an ADHD diagnosis.
Those responding to a poll by GP publication Pulse raised concerns about ‘superficial’ assessments and warned that trauma and other mental health problems could be overlooked. assertive