NHS leaders said they were stuck between ‘a rock and a hard place' with spending in some areas up tenfold.

Rebecca Gray, director of The NHS Alliance's mental health network said: ‘The current situation is unsustainable and delivers a bad deal for patients and taxpayers.'

One ICB said its monthly spend had risen from £146,000 in 2024/25 to £1.5m last year. Another reported an increased spend on adult ADHD services from £11m in 2023/24 to a projected £51m this financial year.

The NHS Alliance said increased demand and a lack of NHS capacity had led to a big influx of new providers, with one ICB having 80 on its patch.

While cutting some delays, the Alliance said the lack of a national tariff had resulted in huge variations in the prices paid, with one ICB paying £300 to £3,000 for similar services. 

The Alliance said the rapid expansion of new providers had also prompted concerns from ICBs about quality assurance and regulation.  

It called for a national mandatory price for ADHD and autism services that reflected the cost of service provision, delivering good value for money and a national service specification applied consistently across all NHS-funded providers to safeguard quality and tackle unwarranted variation.

The call followed an ombudsman report showing a threefold rise in autism and ADHD complaints.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘Last December, we asked clinical psychologist Professor Peter Fonagy to lead an independent review, examining the prevalence of - and support for - ADHD, autism, and mental health conditions.

‘Professor Fonagy's final report will be published later this summer, and will inform our new national approach in this area.'