FOI2026/2030

We write on behalf of our above named client to request information concerning waiting lists for assessment and treatment of ADHD in England for the 2 years January 2018 to December 2018 and January 2019 to December 2019.

Please could you provide us with details of the average waiting time for assessment by specialist providers of ADHD services following a GP referral, and average waiting times for commencement to conclusion of the treatment/titration process.

It will be extremely helpful, if at all possible, if this information could be broken down on a monthly basis. Please could you also provide details of the above waiting times when the referral is made to specific providers pursuant to Right to Choose, if this information is held separately.

NHS Greater Manchester does not hold the information requested.

For the period covered by this request, January 2018 to December 2019, Greater Manchester comprised 10 separate Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), each of which was a separate legal entity with responsibility for its own commissioned services and associated records and information. These organisations were subsequently dissolved and their functions transferred to the current NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB).

NHS Greater Manchester does not hold, and does not have access to, the historical records of the former CCGs necessary to provide the specific information requested, including monthly waiting times for ADHD assessment or waiting times for commencement to conclusion of the treatment/titration process.

In other circumstances, where information may be held by a current provider, we would normally signpost the requester to the relevant provider’s Freedom of Information contact. We have not done so in this instance because the information requested relates to January 2018 to December 2019 and is historical aggregated management information. The NHS Records Management Code of Practice provides minimum retention periods for different categories of records, and records may be reviewed and disposed of once the applicable minimum retention period has been reached where there is no continuing business need. Consequently, NHS Greater Manchester cannot reasonably assume that individual providers would still hold the specific historical management information requested, even where they may retain underlying clinical records for longer periods.

Accordingly, pursuant to section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, NHS Greater Manchester confirms that it does not hold the information requested.