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A plan to help reduce waiting times for ADHD medication by enabling GPs to take over prescribing has been delayed, the Minister for Children and Education has revealed.
In a letter to the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, Deputy Inna Gardiner has provided a progress report on her 2023 delivery plans, which includes the current status of dozens of ministerial actions.
The document noted that, of those, 13 have been delivered, a further 34 actions are "on track to be completed", and three have encountered "unexpected delays".
One of the delayed initiatives was the creation of a scheme that would enable GPs to take over the prescribing of ADHD medication in order to free up clinicians within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service for diagnostic work.
The initiative was supposed to contribute to the reduction of CAMHS waiting times for ADHD neurodevelopmental assessments, following a sharp rise in the number of referrals in the past four years.
Some young islanders have been faced with an eight-month wait for such an assessment, with the waiting times dubbed "atrocious" during a session of Jersey's Youth Parliament in September.
In 2020, there were 131 referrals (51 for ADHD and 80 for autism). This number almost tripled in 2021, with 332 referrals (192 for ADHD and 140 for autism).
In 2022, this figure had doubled again, with a total of 617 referrals – making up 63% of all new CAMHS referrals last year.
Deputy Gardiner's ministerial action sought to reduce the ADHD neurodevelopmental assessment wait times "and to maintain within target waiting times post-Children and Family Hub triage, for initial assessments, therapy, and autism assessments".
Deputy Gardiner's report revealed that plans to enable GP’s to take over the prescribing of ADHD medication had been delayed.
However, the progress report stated that the GP prescription initiative was delayed "due to waiting for the provision of free appointments for children and young people", and is now not expected to be complete until the first quarter of next year.
In her letter, Deputy Gardiner said she was "pleased" with the overall progress made with her delivery plans and "would be content" to give the scrutiny panel a private briefing on the report in the new year.
Deputy Catherine Curtis, who chairs the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, acknowledged that the department had made progress – but said she was still concerned about "unacceptable" delays in diagnosing ADHD and autism in children.
Pictured: Deputy Catherine Curtis chairs the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel scrutiny panel.
Deputy Curtis continued: "Late diagnosis can lead to mental health and social difficulties.
"It’s essential that there is timely referral to early support services to enable children to benefit from educational and social activities.
"The neurodiversity centre should have been in place at the start of 2023 but the completion date has been re-forecast to 2024."
She added: "The CEHA scrutiny panel has also questioned the Minister repeatedly regarding the administration of ADHD medication.
"This can be a great support to some children and adults with ADHD to function better day-to-day.
"Parents of children with ADHD and adults with this condition would benefit from being able to have their medication prescribed by GPs.
"This would save everyone time including CAMHS clinicians and it’s disappointing that this service is still not in place."
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