"If you start with kind, you've won"

News - 18 June 2026

A report, published by Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent, shows that children in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire are waiting almost two years for an Autism assessment. There is also a hidden waiting list; the time from first referral to assessment is not included in these figures and can be years. One parent told Healthwatch “The waiting list may not seem too bad, but it doesn't count the years waiting to be put on a waiting list.”
Front cover of report into childrens autism and ADHD services

The report follows months of talking to parents and carers about a range of issues with the NHS and school. Healthwatch heard lots of stories, of children being let down by those who are supposed to care for them.
 

Known traits of Autism and ADHD are often not recognised in school and children are being punished when their needs are not met.
 

A Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) told a parent their child needed new shoes because they were walking on tiptoes, a known indicator of Autism.
 

A teenager was disciplined for going to the toilet when they were told not to. When their parent asked them why they had left the classroom, they said it was because they didn’t want to wet themselves in front of their friends. Children with Autism and ADHD can experience school-related anxiety, which shows up as aches, nausea and needing to go to the toilet.

“I believe the City has all the ingredients to make things better, but there’s no cook and the oven’s broke. We have active, passionate and experienced parents and voluntary sector organisations doing amazing things; we just need someone to pull it all together and spend the money fixing the problems, not fighting the battles.”

Clare Trenchard

How does sharing your views make a difference? 

You might think your feedback doesn’t have the power to change how health and social care services run. We want to show you how that isn’t the case.

Find out more

You might also be interested in

Front cover of report into childrens autism and ADHD services

"If you start with kind, you've won"

That's what a parent of three children told us whilst in conversation about improving services for young people suspected of having Autism and/or ADHD; "If you start with kind, you've won"
Report