The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, in his role as the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer, has today published a report of his investigation into a whistleblowing complaint about delays in implementing an action plan to address neurodiversity assessment waiting lists for children and young people within NHS Lothian.
The investigation found that NHS Lothian failed to develop and implement an appropriate action plan within a reasonable timeframe after upholding concerns raised by an NHS whistleblower and that the Board's whistleblowing governance arrangements had not been sufficiently robust to ensure the efficient and timely delivery of an appropriate action plan.
The whistleblower told investigators that they had first raised their concerns with the Health Board in October 2024, at which time they reported the waiting list to be around 7,500 patients.
NHS Lothian upheld these concerns in 2025 but have not yet developed a reasonable action plan to address the waiting lists.
During this time, the whistleblower reported that the waiting list continued to rise to around 11,000.
The Ombudsman has recommended that NHS Lothian issue an apology to the whistleblower, develop and implement a clear and robust action plan, and ensure governance arrangements are fully aligned with the National Whistleblowing Standards.
Paul McFadden, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, said;
"Whistleblowing is an essential safeguard in our NHS. In this case, the concerns were recognised as valid, but the lack of timely action to address these concerns undermined the effectiveness of the whistleblowing process.
This lack of action in follow up to concerns is a consistent theme across many of the whistleblowing complaints investigated by my office, and a point of learning for all NHS Boards.
Staff should feel confident that raising concerns will lead to change. That confidence is critical to maintaining safe, effective and responsive NHS services.
My team will be monitoring this case to ensure that my recommendations are carried out in full."