Highland MP demands action to tackle backlog of NDAS assessments for children
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North MP Jamie Stone says it is "time for answers" five months after NHS Highland chiefs confirmed that they were launching a review into the backlog of neurodevelopmental assessments for children.
Mr Stone wrote to the chief executive of NHS Highland, Pamela Dudek, in October last year, asking for an update on what they are doing to tackle the backlog for parents.
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Ms Dudek wrote back to say that "a comprehensive review of Neurodevelopmental Assessment Service (NDAS) is currently being undertaken and we want to assure you we are looking at all possible ways of improving the service within available resources."
Five months later, Mr Stone is looking for an update. In his letter, he highlights that parents continue to be told that the waiting list is over four years for an assessment.
The MP for Sutherland, Caithness and Easter Ross said: "Children who find themselves on the waiting list for a neurological assessment will spend the majority of their schooling years on that same list. To think how many children could be meeting their educational and social heights if they could simply access the assessment that allows them to be prescribed and medicated.
"I am sympathetic with the argument that resources are thin on the ground. In her letter to me, Ms Dudek wrote that they are working within the 'available resources'. Well, to that I argue that if the available resources are leading to a 4 year waitlist, there needs to be a serious review of funding.
"Parents are desperate for an update. Many of them are having to seek alternative routes, all of which are hugely costly. NHS Scotland has allegedly been conducting a 'comprehensive review' of the Neurological Assessment Service for at least 5 months now - it's time for answers."
