(UK) Dorset: 2,000 children waiting 'several years' for special needs assessment

June 20, 2025, Dorset Echo: 'Thousands of Dorset families waiting for special needs diagnosis'

South coast

A DORSET councillor has claimed that it is ‘completely unacceptable’ for thousands of families to wait for up to two years for a special needs diagnosis.

Beacon ward councillor Jane Somper says the answer from health professionals that it’s the best they can do with the resources available is unfair for those waiting and needs to be tackled to improve the service.

Her comments came at Thursday’s Dorset Council people and health scrutiny committee.

She apologised for being critical, after previously praising the NHS locally during discussion on another item.

“I know that they are trying; they’re the best that they can be, with the resource they have, which is clearly pressured, but everyone is pressured across the board. But leaving families and young people for several years to have a diagnosis in my mind is not acceptable and I was not satisfied with the response we have had, which was basically ‘that’s the way it is, we don’t have capacity.’

"They’ve got a huge waiting list and I feel that the work within children’s services is highly ambitious … but I do feel that’s very much a weak spot in this system which is under enormous pressure anyway. It’s not helping.”

She told the meeting there was currently a waiting list for NHS diagnosis for Dorset children of 2,000, which she said would take a long time to tackle at the current rate.