AQW 40244/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Health
To ask the Minister of Health for an update on the waiting lists for children awaiting an ASD (i) diagnosis; and (ii) first time appointment. in each Health and Social Care Trust.
Asked by Nuala McAllister MLA on 10 February 2026
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 10 February 2026
- Answer due by
- 25 February 2026
- Answered
- 14 May 202693 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Health
- Priority question
- No
Answer
As of the end of November 2025, the number of children and young people waiting for an autism assessment and the length of the wait for first appointment across HSC Trusts is as follows:
Number of children and young people waiting for autism assessment broken down by HSC Trust*
| HSC Trust | Number of CYP Waiting |
| BHSCT | 4,975 |
| NHSCT | 5,250 |
| SEHSCT | 2,620 |
| SHSCT | 1,934 |
| WHSCT | 2,873 |
*As part of the Encompass roll-out, all Health and Social Care Trusts have now gone live with a new electronic patient record system. As these Trusts continue to transition to completely digitised records, their data is undergoing extensive validation. Until this process is complete, there may be gaps in the data they are able to submit for reporting purposes. The information provided is sourced from Trust manual returns and is not official statistics.
Information on wait to first appointment is not available