Henry Shelford, CEO and Co-Founder of ADHD UK was interviewed for the article. Arguing that the impact of the medication shortages should have been foreseen and that the lack of medication is going to be devasting for many.
Henry Shelford, the CEO and a co-founder of ADHD UK, said: “ADHD is a disability and the sudden removal of medication is akin to removing a wheelchair from a disabled person that needs it. The NHS should have realised that this was happening and had a plan in place. Instead, people are only finding out when their pharmacy can’t supply. They’ve been left stranded with no support. It is an abject failure, but sadly this lack of care is something we’ve come to expect with our stigmatised condition.”
Shelford criticised the DHSC advice. “The Department of Health and Social Care sticking-plaster memo with the suggestion that GPs ‘reach out to a patient’s specialist team’ is laughable,” he said, adding that patients often waited years to meet the medication team.
Medication is carefully given with dosage and type worked out over months. The idea it can be chopped and changed is wrong. The idea that specialist teams have the capacity to do medication reviews in this quantity is wrong,” he said “This is devastating for individuals across the country and will be life-changing for some. People with ADHD are being let down by the NHS. This is just the latest way in which we are being failed.
Shelford said the situation was also of concern for those hoping to start treatment for ADHD. “It’s going to be devastating for those diagnosed [who are] waiting to receive medication now knowing they have to wait even longer,” he said.
You can read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/29/doctors-in-england-told-not-to-start-new-patients-on-adhd-drugs-due-to-shortage
