Who are we?
Norfolk Community Health & Care’s (NCH&C) Neurodevelopmental Service is a team of health professionals who assess children and young people for Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
What is happening with the service?
Across the country, there has been a large increase in the number of children and young people asking to be assessed for neurodivergence. At NCH&C, we too have been receiving very large numbers of referrals. These numbers are much more than our staff can see each month. This means that children and young people who are waiting for an assessment are now waiting more than six years to be seen.
We are looking at how our Neurodevelopmental Service is delivered to ensure that the service runs as best as it can so that children can be seen sooner.
We are working with our system partners (Norfolk County Council, Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care Board, families, other health providers) to develop a Neurodiversity Transformation Programme which will offer a new way of supporting children, young people and families as soon as they recognise that they may need some support.
Latest project updates
Pre-5 years and Post-5 years assessment teams
From 01 April 2025 we are making a small change in our teams so that referrals for children under 5 years old are assessed by a specialist pre-5 team and children 5 years old and above are seen by a specialised post-5 team.
Pre-5 one-day assessment clinics - starting April 2025
As part of this transformation project, it is important that we trial new ways of working to identify whether alternative, more efficient, ways of assessing children and young people referred to our NDS service is possible.
One-day assessment clinics to assess for Autism in a small cohort of pre-5 children are beginning in April. A small number of families have been contacted directly to identify whether they would like to take part. A child not included in this trial will be seen through our existing pathways. Testing out new ways of working with small cohorts of children will help us to identify a more responsive way of working which will help all children and families on our waiting list. All assessments will continue to be NICE compliant.
A one-day assessment clinic for Autism and ADHD assessment in post-5 children will start to be trialled in May 2025.
New digital referral form
In early April 2025, we introduced a new digital referral form. This development will provide a more efficient way to refer children and young people into our service for assessment of ADHD and / or Autism. We have worked with our health and education colleagues to develop a digital referral form which can be easily navigated by referrers. All referrers will be able to continue to refer using the existing process while we finalise and establish the new digital form.
Waiting List Validation
When we contact parents/carers and young people from our waiting list to offer them an appointment, some families do not attend their appointment, have moved away, or tell us they no longer need an assessment. The volume of missed appointments mean that we are not seeing as many children and young people that we could be.
To ensure that we only offer appointments to those who still want an assessment, we are emailing or writing to parents/carers of children on our waiting list to ask them to confirm whether they still require an appointment and still want to remain on our waiting list. We will be doing this in batches of 50 to support both families and staff with this request. Additional measures have been built into the process to ensure that those children who continue to require assessment, remain on our waiting list.
This waiting list validation will help us to offer assessments to more children and young people who need them.
We will continue to share updates around these proposed changes on this page. We welcome feedback as we progress this project. See ways you can engage and get involved at the bottom of this page.
Introducing the ND Digital Library
Discover a new online resource for parents and carers
Are you feeling overwhelmed with information about neurodivergence? Not sure where to go for support and guidance?
The ND Digital Library has been co-produced with families and clinicians, to provide tailored and practical resources all in one place.
Developed by NCH&C and Cambridgeshire Community Services, you will find professional insights into neurodivergence, information and support around your child's neurodevelopmental needs, and ideas on how to navigate some of the challenges children and families face every day.
What can you do to help?
We are keen for children, young people, parents, and carers who use our services to be involved in our project. These views and opinions are important to us as they will help us design a way of working which understands what local children and their families want.
If you have a question or would like to comment on any aspect of the NDS Transformation project, please use our NDS Feedback Form. Your comments / feedback / questions are important to us and will be reviewed by the ND Transformation project team.
NDS Transformation Feedback Form
Alternatively, you can take part in our:
- Youth Forum - Young Voices Together - we welcome all children and young people who use our services to join our forum. We will contact you to let you know how you can get involved and help improve our services.
If you are interested, please contact: YoungVoicesTogether@nchc.nhs.uk or call us on 01603 216060, leaving your name and contact details.
Young Voices Together leaflet - Engagement workshops - we are planning regular workshops throughout this project for children and young people, and for parent/carers, where we will seek their views and opinions on areas of development. This may include helping us design a survey to capture the views of those who use our service or looking at resources which can improve support for children and families on our waiting list.
If you are interested in being involved, please contact: YoungVoicesTogether@nchc.nhs.uk or call us on 01603 216060, leaving your name and contact details.