Record number of patients in Greater Manchester taking ADHD medication

Charity ADHD UK said the rising number of prescriptions should be applauded as more people receive support, but warned many have had to wait years for medication.

The most recent NHS Business Services Authority data shows 15,743 patients in NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board had a prescription for central nervous system stimulants and drugs used for ADHD in the year to March.

It was up from 13,142 patients the year before and the highest figure since records began in 2015-16.

The number of people taking ADHD medication in the area has more than doubled from 6,063 patients eight years ago.

The data shows where a prescription has been attributed to an NHS number, giving the number of patients for each stimulant or drug.

So, figures may be an overestimate as some patients may take more than one drug.

Across England, 278,00 patients were prescribed stimulants and drugs for ADHD – up 19 per cent on the year before and the highest since 2015-16.

Every area across the country saw a record number of patients prescribed the medication last year.

Henry Shelford, chief executive of ADHD UK, said the increase in prescriptions should be "celebrated".

He added: "We should applaud these figures as representing so many individuals who now have had an ADHD Assessment, have the knowledge that they have ADHD, can use that to turn their lives around, and, in these numbers, now have the support of medication."

He said these patients have often waited for years for an NHS diagnosis and medication, adding that "living with ADHD is hard".

"Individuals with ADHD are at a five times higher risk of suicide," he added.

"We have no doubt that these numbers represent lives rescued and saved. We also have no doubt that the long wait lists, some over 10 years, mean lives ruined and some lives lost."

The figures also showed a noticeable difference in prescribing between male and female patients, with an estimated 174,000 male patients and 103,000 female patients.

Meanwhile, an estimated 63,400 patients prescribed stimulants and drugs for ADHD in the most deprived areas in England, 15% more than those in the least deprived areas.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the NHS is "broken", adding Lord Darzi’s recent report laid out how severe the delays for children waiting for ADHD and autism services have become.

They said: "This government will work to fix this, so that no child who needs help misses out."

They added many of the recent supply issues with most ADHD medicines have now been resolved.

"We are continuing to work with manufacturers to ensure action is taken to resolve remaining supply problems with one specific medicine as quickly as possible and to mitigate risks to patients while these issues are being addressed," they said.