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An extra £800,000 per year would have to be taken from the Health Insurance Fund to enable ADHD medication to be prescribed by GPs, a Scrutiny Panel has heard.
'Shared prescribing' – which empowers GPs to prescribe controlled medication – has long been touted as the solution to lengthy Hospital Pharmacy queues and years-long wait for ADHD assessments.
At the moment, only specialist clinicians can prescribe ADHD medication to islanders through the Hospital Pharmacy.
Pictured: 'Shared prescribing' would allow GPs to issue repeat prescriptions for some controlled drugs, such as ADHD medication.
However, it has been suggested that these drugs could be added to the Approved List of Pharmaceutical Preparations.
Medications can be added to this 'white list' to make them available via other medical professionals in the community – at no extra charge to the patient through the Health Insurance Fund.
This model frees up the time of specialist doctors to tackle waiting lists, and allows existing patients to collect their medication from GP practices around the island.
This subsequently reduces reliance on the Hospital Pharmacy, which is often overwhelmed due to limited opening hours.
But plans to add ADHD medication to shared prescribing list were scuppered earlier this year due to ongoing national shortages, and concerns from local GPs.
And yesterday, the Health and Social Services Scrutiny Panel heard that this addition would cost the Health Insurance Fund over £800,000 annually.
Senior Pharmacist Paul Mcmanus explained that this "substantial chunk of money” would cover prescriptions for around 1,500 ADHD patients per year – and is more than the Government currently spends on antibiotics and tracing infections.
He said: "It certainly would be quite substantial additional income. We're talking in excess £800,000.
"To put that in context, we currently spend just over £17m a year on prescription medicines in the community under the HIF [the Health Insurance Fund]."
Pictured: In Jersey, medications can be added to the Approved List of Pharmaceutical Preparations to make them available in the community at no charge to the patient.
Social Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham noted that there are "multifaceted layers of complexity" around the decision to add ADHD medication to this white list.
She echoed the concerns raised earlier this year about the national availability of ADHD drugs, and reluctance of GPs to be involved in shared care arrangements.
But when asked if shared prescribing was "inevitable", Deputy Feltham confirmed: "That is what we're working towards."
Deputy Jonathan Renouf asked the Social Security Minister to give an indication as to when a decision on shared prescribing could be expected.
Deputy Feltham replied: "There are complex conversations that are ongoing at officer level at all times, and it's something that I regularly ask for updates on.
"But due to the complexities, I think it would be ill-advised for me to try and commit to timeframe at this point in time."
Pictured: Social Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham said that introducing shared prescribing is "priority".
But she later added: "We're rapidly approaching the end of this year, so I don't think we'll see a conclusion this year.
"I would hope that we'll see some movement next year, but perhaps I can provide the panel with ongoing updates at future hearings as well."
Deputy Feltham concluded: "This topic is a priority.
"It is something that we know we need to get resolved, and it's something that Ministers and departments are committed to working together on."
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