Select GPs in NSW will soon be able to diagnose and treat ADHD

ABC NEWS (Australia)

GPs in New South Wales will soon be able to diagnose and treat people for ADHD. The state government says the move will reduce excessive wait times and expensive specialist costs. Health Minister Ryan Park says it's an important initiative.

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00:00I want to see all our healthcare professionals working at their full scope of practice and

00:07when people are waiting up to two years to get a diagnosis and then ongoing treatment,

00:13it's my responsibility and the Mental Health Minister's responsibility to make sure that

00:17we're looking at ways to reform that system and we believe our highly trained GPs with

00:23additional training can carry out this task and provide that access to the care that people

00:28suffering from ADHD need. We know that somewhere between 6-10% of the population we estimate

00:35has ADHD and what we do know from our records is that some people wait up to two years to

00:41get a diagnosis, particularly important for young people to be diagnosed as quickly as

00:46possible because it certainly can impact on their education and developmental skills and

00:51needs that they require as they go forward. So our priority with this reform will be around

00:56making sure that we can get to see those young people as quickly as possible in the first round.

01:01I know for a fact and most people do know that our healthcare professionals in NSW are highly

01:07trained and highly skilled, some of the best in the world. So I know with additional training

01:12from our GPs who will undertake that type of training to be involved in this program, I'm very confident

01:18that we will get the balance right. Whilst we make sure that over diagnosis we don't want to see, what we've

01:24got a challenge of now is actually people getting a diagnosis and getting access to that prescription.

01:30That can help, particularly with our young people, their development going forward.

01:34For more information, visit www.fema.gov.gov.au

01:50For more information, visit www.fema.gov.au

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