Fail to plan, plan to fail: Tools for data-driven neurodevelopmental service planning

Over recent years, Scotland has seen a substantial increase in children, young people, and adults presenting to Primary and Secondary Care services seeking information, assessments, and support for neurodevelopmental conditions. In NHS Ayrshire & Arran, much work has been done to address this growing demand, including the creation of support pathways and a Neurodevelopmental Empowerment and Strategy Team (NEST), in addition to work to review and re-design assessment services. To estimate the demand on services and the human and financial resources required to cover this demand in a data-driven fashion, two tools have been used: a locally developed Neurodevelopmental Assessment Service Demand and Capacity Calculator (NAS-DCC) and Public Health Scotland’s Neurodevelopmental Trajectory Modelling Tool (NTMT). This paper aims to provide a local background to the complexities of planning assessment and support services for neurodevelopmental conditions and introduce readers to the tools that have facilitated this. It is hoped that this will increase awareness of how data-driven service planning can improve the experience of individuals seeking neurodevelopmental assessments and support and ensure that resources are allocated appropriately to these services.