NHS waiting lists are experiencing significant growth as demand for weight loss drugs and assessments for conditions such as autism and ADHD increases, a new report suggests.
Children in England are particularly affected, with community care waiting lists for young people expected to increase by 58% from 2022. This contrasts sharply with a 23% increase for adults over the same period, according to a study by the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation.
More than half (55 percent) of these children and youth are awaiting community pediatric services, particularly for developmental or disability issues. These critical services include neurodevelopmental assessments, which are critical to the diagnosis and management of conditions such as autism and ADHD.
“This may partly explain the overall growth in waiting lists for children and young people’s services, as we have previously reported an increase in demand for referrals and assessments for these conditions,” the report said.
The study also found that 21 percent of children and adolescents are on the waiting list for speech and language therapy services, as are patients with communication, eating, drinking, and swallowing problems.
About 6% of children are on the waiting list for physical therapy, 6% for audiology services, and 6% for occupational therapy.
Overall, the wait for children and young people is much longer than for adults, with almost one in four waiting more than a year and one in 15 waiting over two years.
The report also surveyed adults and found that 44 percent of people on community waiting lists are waiting for musculoskeletal services, such as bone, joint or muscle pain.
However, the largest percentage increase in community services occurred in weight management services for adults (512 percent).
“Although the absolute increase was not as great as for general pediatric or musculoskeletal services, this rapid change is worth noting, as it may be related to the recent increase in demand for GLP-1 (weight loss drugs) such as Mounjaro and Ozempic for weight loss,” the report said.
The report also noted that the number of NHS staff in hospitals has increased much more than in the community.
Between 2010 and 2025, the number of nurses working in community settings increased by 1 percent, while the number of adult hospital nurses increased by 42 percent and pediatric hospital nurses by 93 percent.
Jessica Morris, fellow at the Nuffield Trust and author of the session, said: “Children across the country are waiting far too long for the social care they so desperately need.
For families affected, it can feel like life is on hold while they wait for support.
For example, many of the children on this list are in urgent need of life-changing speech and language therapy because of difficulties with communication or swallowing.
“The growing number of people living with long-term conditions combined with our aging population means that more and more people are likely to need the support of community health services in the coming years.
“Government health programs recognize the importance of social services and include laudable goals to expand them, but our analysis shows how difficult it will be to achieve this goal when existing social services are already on their knees.”
