April 2025
The Leeds Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) and Health colleagues from across the NHS organisations in Leeds meet on a monthly basis to feedback and discuss parental voice and views from across the City. Based on recent feedback from members, please see the updates from our Health subgroup below.
CAMHS Medication Service
Medication reviews for those who are stable on their ADHD medication (i.e. good symptom management, no changes to treatment required) will now move to yearly reviews. This is a change from every 6 months to yearly as per NICE guidelines Recommendations | Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management | Guidance | NICE (point 1.10.1): A healthcare professional with training and expertise in managing ADHD should review ADHD medication at least once a year and discuss with the person with ADHD (and their families and carers as appropriate) whether medication should be continued. It also says in 1.8 regarding maintenance and monitoring, that those under 10 need physical health reviews every 3 months and those 11 and older every 6 months, which we will providing in the Physical Health Monitoring Clinic. Families can also decide to do this monitoring at home or a local provider such as a pharmacy if required.
During the face-to-face physical health monitoring appointment, any concerns can be shared to the CYPMHS assistant about the medication, and this will be discussed with a prescriber regarding next steps. This may include bringing the appointment forward if this is clinically indicated. For those who complete the monitoring at home they can submit text with the readings for review as per the face to face option.
Please note this is common practice for ADHD medication management. Please see above for NICE guidelines detail. Most ADHD medications are Amber Drugs within Leeds, which means that GPs can provide repeat prescriptions but will not make alterations to the treatment plan. The GP may help with the physical health monitoring but not medication changes; all changes need to be provided by the specialist – which is Leeds CYPMHS.
Update about Oakdale
The process for individuals who have been assessed through Oakdale and live in Calderdale who want to access ADHD medication has been successful. Therefore Oakdale have now extended the offer of medication to Leeds and the rest of West Yorkshire for Young People who were assessed by Oakdale. Next steps following this will be to look at whether the medication offer can be extended to patients who have been diagnosed by other providers.
The ICB is working with getting a list of providers like Mantle, Oakdale and Evolve that will agree to local standards so there is more consistency. The list of providers who will be offering the service with these standards for assessment or medication or both should be available from late spring. They are also producing a leaflet with frequently asked questions to go out to families and GPs about Right to Choose to inform people so they can make the right choice for their Young Person. This information is now available to view here – Patient Choice (Right to Choose) :: West Yorkshire Health & Care Partnership