Hyperactivity

Mr. Lansley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts on the provision of services to adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder;

(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people requiring treatment for adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and what recent research his Department has (a) evaluated and (b) commissioned on the (i) efficacy and (ii) cost-effectiveness of treatments for ADHD delivered by the NHS.

Phil Hope
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published clinical guidance in September 2008 (“Clinical Guideline 72”) on the diagnosis and management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, young people and adults. Primary care trusts (PCTs) are expected to follow this guidance, although local service provision is a matter for individual PCTs.

No departmental estimate has been made of the incidence of adult ADHD. NICE evaluated the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of ADHD treatments in preparing “Clinical Guideline 72”.

Mr. Lansley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider the merits of a strategy to support adults with adult deficit hyperactivity disorder akin to that for adults with autism.

Phil Hope
Guidance to help health care professionals in England to commission, together with other relevant agencies, an effective service for the diagnosis and management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults (ADHD) was issued in September 2008 by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

The Department does not feel that the delivery of support for adults with deficit hyperactivity would be best met by developing a separate strategy and a copy of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance has been placed in the Library.