'I'm struggling alone waiting for ADHD diagnosis'

A woman who says she has struggled since school with suspected ADHD says having to wait for a diagnosis continues to affect her daily life and her job.

After waiting 18 months for an assessment, Chloe Browning discovered she had fallen off the waiting list and had to start again. She said she wanted to go private but could not currently afford it.

The 24-year-old said, although the company she worked for had been "really supportive", she felt bad because some days she was "getting paid just to write one Word document" because she could not focus.

Health and Social Care Committee leaders said they were looking over the next six to 12 months at ways and resources in a bid to reduce waiting times.

Browning said: "I just feel like I'm away with the fairies half the day and its really hard to see someone else at work get everything done when you're struggling to even concentrate."

The current waiting time for an ADHD assessment is about 18 months for children and more than two years for adults, while the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) said referrals had tripled since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Billy O'Driscoll, consultant psychiatrist at the Adult ADHD Clinic in Guernsey said: "The increased demand is a trend, not only in Guernsey, but across the UK, and the challenges we are facing are due to a surge in awareness and recognition of adult ADHD over the past five years."

O'Driscoll said the clinic was looking at how it could increase capacity through expanding the role of GPs in managing patients.

Dr Neele Hamilton has launched a new private ADHD assessment service at Queens Road Medical Practice for children and young people after seeing what she described as an "overwhelming demand".

"We're seeing a growing awareness of ADHD which has lead to more families seeking assessments," she said.

She also said that offering a private option meant children would be able to receive timely and thorough assessments with a doctor within Guernsey and before their needs escalated.

She added she was concerned islanders looking for private ADHD assessments in the UK meant the threshold to start medication was lower.

She said: "Having a doctor in Guernsey overseeing patients in person could really help young people so they are only put on medication if its necessary."

Health and Social Care Committee member Sally Rochester, who is in charge of mental health, said two years "to wait for a diagnosis is two years too long", as families and adults continued to face lengthy waits for ADHD assessments.

She said she was "acutely aware" of the inequality created when some families could afford to pay privately while others could not, describing the current position as "deeply unfair".

Rochester said: "Untreated ADHD could have lasting impacts on education, employment and mental health and, if we support people earlier, it could reduce the need for more complex interventions later."

She said not supporting people meant "we are not enabling them to live their fullest lives and we pay a price for that as a community".

She added the committee hoped to explore new partnerships, different approaches and possible additional resources over the next six to 12 months to help reduce waiting times.

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