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The Story

Will a review into mental health fix a system in crisis?

The Story

The Times

Investigative Reporting, Daily News, Current Affairs, Uk News, News, Politics, Global News, News Analysis, In-depth Journalism, Long-form Audio, Audio Storytelling, Exclusive Interviews, Daily News Podcast

3.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today, Health Secretary Wes Streeting is announcing an independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD, and autism services. Amid soaring welfare costs and long waiting lists, the government says the system needs to be transformed. But with Streeting previously claiming that some mental health conditions are ‘overdiagnosed’, are the right problems being tackled?


This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory


Guests: 

  • Eleanor Hayward, health editor, The Times
  • Dr Tony Lloyd, counseling psychologist and former CEO of ADHD UK

Host: Manveen Rana. 

Producers: Edward Drummond, Taryn Siegel, Micaela Arneson. 

Read more: Wes Streeting orders inquiry into mental health ‘overdiagnosis’

Further listening: Is ADHD being over-diagnosed?

Clips: Sky News, Channel 4 News, Parliament, The Sun, BBC.

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manvine Rana.

0:10.8

Today, the government is launching an independent review into what's driving rising demand

0:16.8

for mental health, ADHD and autism services.

0:22.0

As waiting lists have ballooned across the NHS,

0:25.6

with the average wait time now for an adult ADHD diagnosis at eight years,

0:31.9

so too have the number of critics for the way the current system

0:35.6

treats those with mental health issues and

0:38.8

neurodiversity. There is a crisis of overdiagnosis of children with neurodiverse issues.

0:47.5

ADHD is the fashionable disorder of the day. Social anxiety. We used to call it shy. Even the health secretary, Wes

0:57.3

Streeting, has waded in. Mental well-being illness, it's a spectrum, right? And I think too many,

1:04.9

I think there's definitely, there's an overdiagnosis, but also there are too many people being

1:09.2

written off.

1:28.6

The story today. The government launches a review into mental health, but will it fix a system in crisis?

1:37.2

My name is Eleanor Hayward and I'm the health editor at the Times.

1:44.0

You've had a real exclusive today, a bit of a tip off, tell us what you've learned.

1:49.1

I've heard that West Streeting, the Health Secretary, is planning to announce a big independent review into mental health services in England.

1:53.1

And as part of this, it's going to try and get to the bottom of why mental health problems

1:59.5

are really on the rise, why more people are getting diagnosed

2:03.1

with anxiety and depression, and particularly this huge demand we've seen for ADHD and

2:09.4

autism services.

2:10.7

And what do we know about how this inquiry will be conducted?

2:14.7

The inquiry is going to be led by an independent team of experts, led by a man called

...

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