Is too much being spent on ADHD assessements?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/12/nhs-england-overspending-adhd-millions-under-regulated-private-clinics#:~:text=Research%20shared%20with%20the%20Guardian,for%20this%20area%20of%20healthcare.

It’s perhaps no great surprise that the NHS has massively overspent on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services this year, as reported in a recent article in the Guardian, and that demand for assessments has reached record levels due to increased awareness of the condition, particularly in adults and women.

What is increasingly worrying, however, is that this increase in demand for assessments, not only costs the NHS significant amounts which it can ill-afford, but it leads to delays in individuals actually getting the support they need whilst they wait for the ‘diagnosis’. Added to this problem is that funds being spent on assessment are diverted away from the essential support services that could benefit those with indications of ADHD earlier – for the same cost of an assessment, approximately 10-15 hours of 1-2-1 coaching or mentoring support for ADHD could be provided*.

If instead of chasing the expensive and often unreliable, according to the Guardian’s report, assessment, funding could be better spent on investing in inclusive education and workplaces that work with and support the needs of those with ADHD, along with other neurodivergent groups, without the reliance on a diagnostic label that medicalises differences as deficits instead of embracing differences and celebrating the variety in the way humans think.

*based on the writer’s rough estimate using AI generated data of costs for assessment, coaching and mentoring services.