According to a professor from the University College London - who was interviewed in the Guardian - a lack of consensus on how to define autism has led to both overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis in the UK.

While debate on the diagnosis of autism continues elsewhere, services in Guernsey have recently revealed difficulties in keeping up with demand for diagnostic pathways in the island. 

An initiative will soon be launched to support the Children’s Autism Diagnostic Service, which doesn’t have the capacity to review an increase in referrals. This increase has led to a waiting list of roughly 250 children who have been referred for assessment. 

Plans have been prepared by Health and Policy and Resources to commission a UK-based specialist company – Psicon - to undertake additional assessments for six months. 

The Diagnostic Service in Guernsey has been open to referrals since October 2021 and “there have been considerably more referrals for autism assessment received than the team has had capacity to see” according to a government spokesperson. 

ADHD 

The Autistic Diagnostic Service isn’t the only service under pressure, as it has been revealed that the ADHD Diagnostic Clinic has also reached capacity. 

There has been a steady rise in ADHD diagnoses in Guernsey, the UK and the United States with a spokesperson for the States of Guernsey indicating that, “demand for assessments for both adults and children has grown significantly in recent years”. 

“For example, it is estimated that 10 years ago about 20 adults were referred for assessment; last year there were about 230. Likewise, the number of children referred for assessment has increased, with 24 referred in 2020 rising to 133 in 2023.” 

The President of Health and Social Care, Deputy Al Brouard, said the increase in demand for both autism and ADHD pathways has generated a lot of conversation recently. 

“We cannot control the demand for the diagnostic pathways, where people are referred into from their GPs, and we recognise how important they are for those they support – and how frustrating the wait can be for them and their families.  

“We’re grateful to the Policy & Resources Committee for supporting our desire to introduce a new initiative seeking to get more children through the assessment pathway for autism diagnoses and we hope the six-month partnership with Psicon helps.  

“Our Committee is also acutely aware of similar challenges faced by our ADHD Diagnostic Clinic, which simply cannot keep up with demand. We are looking to increase capacity in that service in the coming months but in the meantime would ask for those people waiting an assessment appointment to please bear with us and the team running the service.”