Families demand answers over ADHD medication shortages

PARENTS PLEAD TO AUTHORITIES FOR ‘BASIC COMPASSION'

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

FAMILIES of children with ADHD in the East Midlands have pleaded to politicians and public bodies to “show some basic compassion” as they continue to fight for their children's medication.

Parents across the UK have been struggling for more than two years to get hold of regular treatment for their children’s Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

As part of a national shortage of medication which started during the pandemic, families have had a constant fight on their hands as they have continued to receive doses in “dribs and drabs”.

Parents across the East Midlands say half the challenge has been getting anyone to take them seriously or even listen to their stories.

“I got in touch with the local councillor - he passed me the contact details of the MP and I got an automated response from him before he said it wasn’t something he could help with,’ says Kimberley Grant.

The 34-year-old from Bulwell began fighting for her daughter's medication around 28 months ago, at which point local NHS leaders had said the shortages were due to national and global “difficulties with medicine supplies”.

The “on-and-off” nature in which the family received the medication, which at one point reduced to zero, left 14-year-old daughter Miley with withdrawal symptoms.

“Each avenue I've tried to go down with professional bodies, it just feels like they come back to me and write ‘we don’t care’ in posh writing,” she said.

“Each time you have to explain your story to people - it’s mentally draining. You almost find yourself persuading people to believe you because they don’t really understand what ADHD medication can do”.