To improve early access to this support, the report suggests offering practical help to people showing signs of ADHD, before referral or while waiting for assessment, such as coaching, classroom tools and parenting advice.

The report also emphasises the need to get ADHD support right across all sectors, to reduce school exclusions, ease pressure on mental health and wider health services, and help more people thrive at home, in work, and in society.

It also calls for a simpler more joined-up system of care for patients and for data improvement to be prioritised.

Professor Anita Thapar, chair of the ADHD Taskforce, said: ‘The recommendations put forward by the taskforce will require action across government and cross-sector organisations to make the necessary changes to improve the lives of people with ADHD. We need to get this right, to make sure people get early diagnosis and support, not just in the NHS but across society.'

Dr Adrian James, NHS England's medical director for Mental Health and Neurodiversity, said: ‘We know that too many people with ADHD have been waiting for too long for support, which is why we launched the taskforce last year to help respond to the significant growth in the need for care.

‘It is clear that much more needs to be done to improve ADHD assessment and care in England and ensure people can get a timely diagnosis, and we welcome the findings from the interim report, and look forward to its final conclusions later this year.'

A raft of other measures to improve ADHD provision have been developed and delivered by NHS England while the taskforce has been engaging experts and families to shape its reports. These include a data improvement plan, and the first publicly available reporting on ADHD referrals and waiting times which began last month. 

NHS England is also working with local systems who are trialling new and innovative ways to deliver ADHD services, improve patient care and productivity, to better meet the needs of people in need of support.

Meanwhile, the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools Programme, delivered with the Department for Education, is training teachers to better identify and support neurodiverse pupils and engage with their families.