‘The value for patients is phenomenal’: ADHD reforms begin

The first phase of landmark reforms for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment in NSW began this week, with trained GPs now able to prescribe ongoing medication for patients previously diagnosed with the condition.
 
As part of what the NSW Premier Chris Minns called ‘a really important milestone’, the NSW Government revealed that 1330 GPs have expressed interest in participating in the reforms, which open up ADHD treatment to general practice.
 
The training is being covered by the NSW Government, with RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman saying the state ‘is leading the way in making ADHD care accessible to everyone’.
 
‘It’s really exciting,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘I feel like we’ve got a lot of support in NSW for general practice and specialist GPs at the moment.  
 
‘There’s a lot of goodwill, not only from the Premier and from the Health Minister, but also from our non-GP specialists, our psychiatrists and our paediatricians that have absolutely supported this rollout as well.
 
‘The value in doing this for our patients is phenomenal.’
 
Details of the next stage of reform, which will allow GPs to initiate the prescription of psychostimulant medicines for ADHD treatment, will be released later this year.
 
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park says the response from GPs is ‘really positive’, and the reforms will mean patients with ADHD will have better access to the care they need.
 
For Dr Hoffman, the work in NSW is a benchmark for other jurisdictions.
 
‘We’d love to see this being a nationally consistent program, where it doesn’t matter where you live across Australia – that your usual GP that does all of your care, whether it be antenatal, mental health, any care, can also do your ADHD care,’ she said.
 
She urges NSW GPs who have not already expressed their interest to consider doing so.
 
‘It absolutely is a skill set that we already have,’ she said.
 
‘The training is excellent and is not onerous, it’s freely available on the RACGP website and is something that I would absolutely be encouraging all Fellows and registrars to be spending the time to do.’
 
She also encourages GPs to consider whether they have capacity to carry out additional training to diagnose ADHD and initiate medication, when that reform phase begins later this year.
 
Another positive of the reforms for the RACGP NSW&ACT Chair has been the impact on bureaucracy, says Dr Hoffman.
 
‘The really exciting thing for me as a GP is this actually reduces our red tape,’ she said.
 
‘Being able to prescribe for ADHD as of this week is significantly less paperwork than what it was last week. We don’t have to chase non-GP letters, we don’t have to apply for individual patients through SafeScript.
 
‘It significantly streamlines the work.
 
‘That’s a nice change for GPs and what I’d like to see both across ADHD care, but also across a number of areas of general practice as well.’
 
While Queensland preceded NSW in allowing GPs to reissue prescriptions for ADHD treatment, Dr Hoffman says a key difference in NSW has been the financial backing from the State Government.
 
‘We would always advocate for additional funding for GPs to take up work in this space,’ she said.
 
Several other states are currently changing legislation to increase access to ADHD treatment in general practice, with the Western Australian and South Australian Governments both announcing reforms this year.
 
In Queensland, GPs have been able to initiate and continue stimulant medications to patients aged four to 18 years since 2017.
 
In a position statement published last month, the RACGP called for nationally consistent legislation ‘to enable specialist GPs to initiate, modify and continue psychostimulant medications for adults and children with ADHD’.
 
GPs interested in expanding their knowledge about ADHD can find education available through the current curriculum for RACGP GP training and ADHD modules in the college’s gplearning platform.  
 
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