Improving children’s neurodivergent services in Wales: our beta project

Our work began by listening to families and carers about their experiences navigating neurodiversity services. More recently, we've deepened our understanding by working directly with the people delivering care – clinicians, administrators, and operational leads. 

Through interviews, site visits and workshops across many health boards, we've mapped the entire service journey from referral through to diagnosis and post-assessment support. This has given us a clear picture of how these complex, people-centred systems work in practice. 

Building on our discovery and alpha work, we're continuing our partnership with Welsh Government, local authorities and health boards to test practical real-world improvements to Children’s Neurodivergent services. 

Our research has shown that the current system is under significant strain. Dedicated professionals are doing their best within fragmented and overloaded structures. Many services rely on workarounds, handwritten notes, and personal spreadsheets to bridge gaps left by underperforming or poorly integrated digital systems. While digital tools hold promise, their deployment must be thoughtful and user-centred otherwise they risk adding to the burden.  We found that mandated systems are often difficult to use, leading to low adoption and widespread reliance on manual alternatives. 

We are taking a two-pronged approach:  

1. Exploring new digital tools 

This includes testing AI scribing technology which has significant potential to:  

• Reduce administrative burden 
• Reclaim valuable clinical time 
• Improve continuity of care 
• Reduce staff burnout 

The feedback from early adopters in other sectors has been compelling, and while there's much to test and learn, the potential benefits are too promising to ignore. 

2. Improving existing systems 

Many challenges aren't caused by missing technology but by issues with current systems. We'll be looking at: 

• Better configuration of existing tools 
• Creating clearer workflows 
• Removing friction points for daily users  

Everything we do is informed by the detailed journey maps we've created, the patterns we've observed across Wales, and most importantly, the voices of the people doing the work every day. We're identifying pinch points in the pathway where targeted experiments can make meaningful differences. 

This isn't about creating a brand-new system that promises to fix everything. It's about making practical improvements to the real systems that people use and responsibly exploring whether modern technology like AI can deliver on its potential to help. 

We're committed to working in the open throughout this project. A key principle in the Digital Service Standard for Wales, this means we will share regular updates on our progress, insights, and how we're applying what we learn to improve services for everyone in Wales. 

Keep an eye out for resources we use during this project  

The Digital Service Standard for Wales: Tried and tested principle for designing digital services.