Posted on: 31 October 2023
There is currently a national shortage of ADHD medication. The supply disruption of these products is caused by a combination of manufacturing issues and an increased global demand of these medications.
We are expecting supply issues to continue until April 2024, we will update our website regularly with any information we receive regarding supply.
When a child or young person is prescribed stimulant medication for the management of ADHD (e.g. Concerta XL®, Delmosart XL®, Matoride XL®, Xaggitin XL®, Xenidate XL® and immediate release methylphenidate) it is always advised by the clinician that they should take frequent breaks from their medication to assess efficacy, and most children and young people should be encouraged to take a break from this type of medication.
However, guanfacine (Intuniv®) should not be stopped suddenly as it can cause the child/young person to experience high blood pressure. Therefore, we would ask that you contact us if you are having difficulty obtaining this medication on 0300 222 5856 lines open from 9am - 12.30pm.
As an alliance we are working hard to ensure parent- carers and schools have support available through this challenging time. We will be contacting all affected families over the next week to update them on the national issue and set out our advice. This will include children and young people currently on and those awaiting an initial appointment to discuss and potentially commence medication following an ADHD diagnosis. We will also be communicating with schools to ensure they have the tools and support available to assist children who will not be taking their regular ADHD medication.
We understand this is going to be a difficult time for families, I would urge you to take a look at our information and resource page for Neurodevelopmental needs on the Mindworks website, this page which has recently been updated, there are lots of helpful strategies and interventions to support ADHD symptomology as well as some medication advice under the ADHD section. There is also some useful parent information leaflets on Frimley ICB website which you might find useful.