{"id":149192,"date":"2025-06-01T10:15:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T10:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/149192\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T10:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T10:15:25","slug":"gps-in-nsw-to-diagnose-adhd-prescribe-meds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/149192\/","title":{"rendered":"GPs In NSW To Diagnose ADHD & Prescribe Meds"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a welcome move that\u2019ll streamline the time and cost of waiting around to meet a specialist, treating and diagnosing<\/a> ADHD in NSW will soon be as simple as visiting your local GP.\n<\/p>\n

Under new changes announced by the NSW Government on Monday, up to 1,000 GPs will be able to complete additional training to provide ongoing ADHD prescriptions for those on stable doses of medication. <\/p>\n

A smaller cohort of GPs will be able to apply for additional training and accreditation, funded by the state, which will allow them to diagnose and treat both children and adults with ADHD.<\/p>\n

The move will significantly simplify the current process, which can be pretty frustrating<\/a> to say the least. As it stands, it requires people seeking an ADHD assessment to be referred to a psychiatrist \u2014 which can cost several hundred dollars per session \u2014 while GPs aren\u2019t able to prescribe ADHD-related meds without approval from NSW Health. <\/p>\n

TLDR, getting that ADHD diagnosis and prescription often results in high costs and some pretty significant wait lists, especially in regional areas. <\/p>\n

\"woman-adhd-medicine\"Around one in every 20 Australians have ADHD. (Source: iStock Images)<\/p>\n

NSW Premier Chris Minns<\/strong> said the state\u2019s reforms will help \u201ctilt the scales in favour of fairness\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy safely training more GPs to treat and diagnose ADHD, we are hoping to break the cycle of people having to wait years for, what can be, a life-altering diagnosis,\u201d he said in a statement <\/a>on Monday. <\/p>\n

NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park <\/strong>added this should help people who are struggling to access life-changing treatment for the condition, while also relieving some of the pressure on in-demand specialists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe option to see a GP to manage ADHD will provide a timely, safe and appropriate pathway to care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Around one in every 20 Australians<\/a> have ADHD, and according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, over 4.6 million prescriptions for ADHD medications were dispensed<\/a> to just under 600,000 patients across the country from 2023 to 2024. <\/p>\n

Dr Rebekah Hoffman<\/strong>, NSW & ACT chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), said she\u2019s heard of some families having to shell out more than $5,000 just on ADHD assessments and diagnosis. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis announcement will have life-changing impacts when it comes to accessing timely and affordable ADHD care for families across the state,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Amen for a simpler way to get that ol\u2019 prescription re-filled. (Source: iStock Images)<\/p>\n

She also pointed out this measure already exists in other states like Queensland, where GPs have been prescribing ADHD medications since 2017. Such changes have also been proposed in Western Australia. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe thank the Minns Labor Government and our non-GP specialist colleagues for working with us to deliver safe, accessible, affordable care for children with ADHD. In the years ahead, we look forward to working constructively with the Government to go even further and train up more GPs to diagnose and initiate medication so that all families can access the care and treatment they need,\u201d Hoffman said. <\/p>\n

The government will soon seek expressions of interest from GPs to undertake additional education and training funded by NSW Health. In the first stage, it\u2019ll be prioritising children \u2014 meaning adults might have to wait a little longer<\/a> for these GP services to become available.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is because a delay in diagnosis can have a significant impact on a child\u2019s development, such as poorer academic progress, employment opportunities and mental health,\u201d the Minns government explained. <\/p>\n

Ongoing prescriptions for children are expected to kick off in early 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a welcome move that\u2019ll streamline the time and cost of waiting around to meet a specialist, treating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[2012,105,4326,218,51527,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-149192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-adhd","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-medication","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-nsw","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}