Neurodiversity - waiting times
How long you might have to wait to get help
We provide this information to help guide you in understanding typical waiting times for this Pathway.
It can be difficult to give exact timescales for how long you might wait due to the many things that influence this.
This includes:
- Being guided by our triage of your needs
- The number of people needing a service from CFHD
- Current staffing capacities
- Increased demand for the service
If you have any questions about your referral, please contact our Single Point of Access team using the details below:
Phone: 0330 0245 321
Email: CFHD.DevonSPA@nhs.net
| Quarterly information Last updated: June 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Average wait to first contact (weeks) | 129 |
| Longest wait to first contact (weeks) | 263 |
Average wait refers to the time it takes for the average child to be seen after being referred to the service. This can vary between localities depending on demand and capacity.
We appreciate that this is currently a long wait. Please visit our signposting page to see what support is available within Devon while you are waiting for an assessment. We will contact you to request further information before arranging the assessment.
Right to Choose assessment
If your child has been referred for a Right to Choose assessment by the GP, please let us know so we can remove your child from our Child and Family Health wait list, as this will not happen automatically. A child cannot undergo both assessments in parallel, so we need to update our records accordingly.
For more information and support regarding Neurodiversity, use the button below:
Private provider assessments
The information below outlines the actions we are taking across the system to increase capacity, work collaboratively with partners, and ensure children are assessed as quickly and fairly as possible.
Autism assessment waiting list project
NHS Devon are writing to those who have been waiting over 12 months for an autism assessment. We understand how hard and frustrating this wait can be and want to reassure you that your child has not been forgotten.
Why are we writing to you now?
We are working with health services across Devon to help children who have been waiting the longest get their assessments as soon as possible.
Health providers are looking at all the information they already have and will use it to carry out individualised assessments in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
To help with this, please send any reports or assessments you haven’t already shared. These could include reports from Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Psychologists, or Educational Psychologists. We do not need any reports that were completed by CFHD.
For more information, click the button below: