Every three months, Suzanne Grobke makes an eight-hour round-trip to access the ADHD medicine her 12-year-old daughter depends on.
“My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD when she was three and we see a paediatrician in Sydney because it was up to a two-year wait to see someone regionally,” she said.
“She has displayed suicidal thoughts and self-harmed, she is on anxiety meds, anti-psychotics, sleeping meds and Ritalin. It is a lot for a 12-year-old.”
If their GP on the New South Wales mid-north coast could prescribe Ritalin alongside her daughter’s other medicines, “it would make everything so much easier”, said Grobke, who takes time off her accountancy work to accompany her daughter on the journey every three months.
With rising rates and awareness of ADHD combined with the difficulty of accessing specialists in regional areas, the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is calling for a federal government commitment to increasing the number of medicines GPs can prescribe, including essential medicines for people with ADHD.
The college says a standardised approach to prescribing ADHD medicine – the regime differs in every state and territory – would alleviate growing pressure on the system responsible for treating the more than a million Australians who live with ADHD.
In most states and territories, psychiatrists must diagnose and initially prescribe stimulant medication such as Ritalin and Vyvanse, after which patients are co-managed by a GP. If a patient is under 18, a paediatrician can also fulfil the psychiatrist’s role.
In Queensland, GPs can diagnose and prescribe ADHD medicine for children but not adults, while Western Australia has committed to reforms allowing GPs to diagnose and prescribe stimulant medication for ADHD.
For patients, the inconsistencies lead to higher medical costs when attempting to access essential medicines; for doctors, the patchwork approach impacts moves between jurisdictions, the college says.
Dr Tim Jones, the RACGP chair of child and young persons’ health, is based in Tasmania, where patients face an almost three-year wait for ADHD assessments. He said collaborative solutions were needed now – and that the current inconsistencies in the prescribing of ADHD medication were “very confusing”.
“Patients with stable ADHD see specialists on an ongoing basis every six months for scripts. We could take on that care – and that would allow less cost to families, but also it would free up those specialist services to conduct more assessments and deal with some of the wait times,” Jones said.
“Having universal rules around ADHD prescribing will be a huge step in the right direction.”
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Jones said paediatricians made up 3% of the medical workforce yet were expected to manage a condition affecting up to 20% of children.
A 2023 Senate inquiry into ADHD in Australia highlighted the significant barriers faced by people with the disorder, including around costs of and waiting times to access treatment.
The committee recommended nationally consistent rules for ADHD medication prescriptions – a proposal supported by the federal government, which is yet to commit to national reform.
The RACGP president, Dr Michael Wright, said access to timely medical care “shouldn’t be a postcode lottery”.
“When skilled GPs can better support people living with ADHD and prescribe medicines, it reduces financial barriers for patients, improves health outcomes and eases pressure on the health system,” he said.
For Grobke, it would mean less time off work, fewer expenses and local, joined-up medical support for her daughter.
“This medication is very important – it has made a huge difference to her life,” she said.
“It would just be so much easier if we just had the support we needed here.”