Children bear brunt of NHS waiting times in England, report finds

Tens of thousands of young people in England have been waiting more than a year for an NHS appointment, a report warns.1While waiting times for most adult services are improving overall, the opposite is happening in children’s services, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) annual state of care report showed. This contrast was sharpest in waiting times for community health services.While the report found that the number of adults waiting more than a year for an appointment had reduced, the number of young people waiting more than a year increased by 129% in the two years to March 2026.Most of those waits were for community paediatric services, including diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD. Just a few weeks ago a major government backed review found that the process for diagnosing ADHD and autism in England needed a “fundamental shift” to ensure that children receive timely support.2The CQC said…