Help us shape the NHS support offer for neurodivergent children and young people in south east London

Background:

NHS South East London Integrated Care Board (SEL ICB) commissions health services for Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. SEL ICB is looking to make improvements in access to and offers of support for children and young people who are neurodivergent and their parents/carers.

The aims of this work programme have been shaped by feedback and insights from children and young people with lived experience, as well as their parents, carers, including Parent Carer Forums collected in previous engagement.

Key ambitions:

• reduce long waits for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessments for children and young people, including exploring how to eliminate separate diagnostic pathways for ADHD and ASD
• enable access to relevant support to parents/carers and children and young people based on early identification of needs while waiting for an assessment.

We want to hear from local parents/carers who have experience of their child waiting for an ADHD or ASD assessment in NHS services in south east London to help decide what the offer of support should look like (while waiting and post assessment).

How we listen to you and other people?

We asked parents or carers of a child who has recently had, or is waiting for, an ADHD or ASD assessment to help us improve the support available before and after assessments. Thank you to everyone who participated.

We gathered their thoughts and recommendations via a survey and a co-design workshop and this helped us to understand that

Key findings:

• Support for children and young people is more important to parents and carers than receiving a diagnosis
• The experience of families while waiting for an assessment varies significantly
• Support for schools to better meet children’s needs was highlighted as the most impactful type of support that may be offered
• Parents and carers highlighted managing impulsivity and supporting children and young people with anxiety as being the areas they most needed help with

Next steps

The insights from this survey and other engagement activity we carried out will inform the development of new ways of working to better meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in south east London.