In brief: Adults with ADHD in Jersey are now receiving two-month prescriptions for their medication, replacing the previous monthly arrangement. The change, confirmed by a patient email seen by Bailiwick Express, is designed to ease access for patients and free up clinical capacity in a service already under significant strain.
A Long Time Coming
Bailiwick Express reports that Jersey’s Health Department has begun issuing two-month ADHD prescriptions to adults, following months of development on a dedicated prescribing policy. The change, described as being applied where “clinically appropriate”, was first signalled in July when managing director Andy Weir outlined the plans to the outlet.
Mr Weir explained the rationale at the time: “A new prescribing policy is being developed specifically to extend the length of a prescription for adult ADHD medication. Where clinically appropriate, it will be extended from one month to two months. The change aims to make it easier for patients to access and collect their medication. It will also increase capacity within the service as clinicians will spend less time processing routine prescription renewals.”
The background to the monthly prescription arrangement is worth noting. A global medication shortage had previously prompted the Health Department to shorten prescriptions from six-weekly to monthly, a move that, combined with long queues at the hospital pharmacy, left some islanders anxious about running out of medication. The new two-month prescription effectively reverses that tightening and goes further.
What It Means for Patients
Rachel Boss, founder of ADHD Jersey, welcomed the development, calling it a “positive step” that would “make a real difference to people’s daily lives.” She was also pointed in her praise, noting that the change “shows what happens when prescribers are actually listened to.”
“Clinicians on the ground have been saying for a long time that monthly prescriptions were creating unnecessary pressure for everyone, and it is encouraging to see that feedback acted on,” she told Bailiwick Express.
Boss also highlighted the particular burden that monthly pharmacy visits place on adults with ADHD, a detail that may not be immediately obvious to those outside the community. “For adults with ADHD, the monthly trip to the hospital pharmacy is far more stressful than most people realise,” she said. “The queues, the harsh lighting, the noise, the waiting. For a community with sensory sensitivities and executive function challenges, that environment every single month is genuinely draining, on top of the constant anxiety of running out of medication.”
A Service Under Pressure
The prescription change is a welcome improvement, but it sits against a backdrop of serious capacity problems in Jersey’s ADHD service. Bailiwick Express reports that at the end of April, just under 1,200 adults were waiting for an ADHD assessment. Figures reported in July put the median wait for those on the waiting list at 707 days, approaching two years.
Mr Weir had previously identified a lack of capacity as the service’s “core issue”, with only one consultant psychiatrist and one junior doctor able to diagnose and prescribe ADHD medication to what amounts to hundreds of patients. Reducing the frequency of routine prescription renewals will, at least in theory, give those two clinicians more time for assessments and other clinical work, though the scale of the waiting list suggests the margin for improvement is modest.
Source: Bailiwick Express
