Letter - Minister for Health and Social Services to HSSP re Review of Prescription for ADHD Medication - 22 November 2024

19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR

Deputy Doublet

Chair, Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel BY EMAIL

22 November 2024

Dear Chair,

Re: ADHD Medication

In response to your letter of 11 November 2024, please find our answers below:

1. Much work has been undertaken on the strategy, in line with the plan of work, and we are on target to have a final draft completed by the end of the year. Having had over 500 responses to the Survey and 44 attendees at our open events across the parishes, we are now at the stage where we are drawing together the key themes, actions and proposed  measurable  outcomes.  A  large  stakeholder  event  was  held  on  15th November at St Helier Parish Hall , where the work to date and proposed actions were discussed and agreed in detail. The multi-agency steering group is next due to meet in December to finalise the strategy, for submission to the Minister for review.
2. The conference was a HCS higher education department learning activity. The HCS education department engaged with and got approval for the conference from the Heads of Medical Education, the Chief Nurse and the Director of Mental Health and Social Care. In Jersey, the conference was advertised via the HCS intranet, HSC staff e-mailing, the Staff Neurodiversity Forum, and via the service user group ADHD Jersey who also participated and presented at the conference.

1. The conference was for professionals working in Jersey and Guernsey, to discuss important topics about ADHD in the context of health and education. We emphasised the need for collaborative efforts across professional groups to address gaps in care, particularly for underserved communities, and how to better support individuals navigate the challenges of ADHDthey face in daily life. A good outcome from the conference was that some GPs have raised an interest in additional training so that they are better able to response to, and personalise care, for their patients with ADHD. Another good outcome was the realisation  for  further  training  for  colleagues  working  in  education  (i.e., schools).
2. This was not a conference for members of the public. It was a learning activity for professionals in health and education. The conference has raised a lot of public interest and feedback was that members of the public were interested in attending a public event/conference about ADHD in the future. As a result, the HCS  Education  department  have  arranged  a  meeting  with  the  Jersey Employment Trust to discuss the organisation of a public event or conference' about ADHD (and related neurodiversity) in the new year.

3. The conference was a learning activity for professionals in health and education, a public conference is in the planning process, I will ensure that the Panel will have sight of the date once I have more details.

3. While for some products the situation has eased, there is still a range of products where the shortage is so severe that we are having to work hard to maintain the treatment of people who are already prescribed those medications. It is very difficult to put a timescale on resolution of the problem, because, when the issue first arose last year (2023), it was expected to be resolved within months. The resolution date has continually been pushed back. So, at the moment, we cannot be certain.
4. Can you provide statistics for all those prescribed ADHD medication for each year from 2015 to 2024.

Year  Number of Prescriptions  Number of Patients

2016  1121  231 2017  1142  247 2018  1546  350 2019  2218  403 2020  2569  507 2021  4034  730 2022  5153  1153

Please contact me if you require further information. Yours sincerely,

Deputy Tom Binet

Minister for Health and Social Services E t.binet@gov.je