INVESTIGATING why a post-pandemic rise in the number of children on ADHD medication has not come down will form part of a Scrutiny panel’s work this term.
St Lawrence Constable Tina Palmer, who sits on the Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel, said that she was left “staggered” by figures revealed during a hearing with Children’s Minister Richard Vibert on Thursday.
Mr Vibert said there were 771 children on ADHD medication treatment, following a “massive increase” in the wake of the Covid pandemic that did not “tail off” despite expectations that it would have fallen by now.
“I don’t think, to any grade, anyone has been able to explain [why],” he added.
“Children were obviously restricted at home, and probably their conditions worsened, so that was understandable. But, as I say, we’d expected to start to see a fall [in the numbers].”
He also said that there were 187 children awaiting ADHD assessments – and that 678 were completed last year.
“It is something that we have to be aware of,” Mrs Palmer told the JEP after the hearing.
“There seems to be a changing landscape for children in this area and then of course there’s the educational needs, which obviously goes hand in glove with these young people.”
She highlighted that there was a need to examine why the numbers had not dropped off.
“As an island, not just as a Scrutiny panel, it is something that definitely needs to be investigated further if this is what the future holds for young people.”
