Jeremy Miles MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Welsh Government set up the Neurodivergence Improvement Programme (NDIP) in 2022 to improve services and support for neurodivergent individuals and their families. We have extended the programme to March 2027, investing a further £13.7m to improve people’s outcomes.
The Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing refocused £5.6m of NDIP funding in 2025-26 to eliminate three-year waiting times for children’s neurodevelopmental assessments across Wales by the end of March. While have yet to receive the end-of-year data, health boards are on track to deliver this ambition and some will have gone further, reducing waits to less than two years.
I have set out the priorities for the NDIP for 2026-27. As demand for children’s assessments continues to increase, health boards will continue to focus on reducing waiting times. Health boards will receive a share of £5.6m of NDIP funding to maintain the national position of eliminating three-year waits for children’s neurodevelopmental assessments, while giving greater flexibility to those health boards which are already sustaining waiting times of less than two years.
All health boards will be required to submit delivery plans. They will also be expected to work collaboratively, share learning and good practice to support the development of more efficient and consistent services for neurodivergent children and young people and to reduce variation across Wales. We will be promoting the use of AI Scribe tools to support assessments, wherever appropriate, building on successful pilots in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Hywel Dda University Health Boards.
In parallel, NHS Performance and Improvement will develop national waiting list validation standards and referral to treatment guidance for neurodivergence pathways.
An adult ADHD task and finish group has been set up and is developing options to improve services for adults who are waiting for assessments. This includes work on shared care agreements.