East Midlands programme to improve ADHD diagnosis for children and young people selected for national adoption and spread. Supporting almost 10,000 children across England to have an objective ADHD assessment
The national Focus ADHD programme originated in the East Midlands AHSN. Thanks to the dedication of East Midlands health and care staff, it’s now benefiting many thousands of families across the country. The programme uses an objective assessment tool - a computer-based test (QbTest), to measure attention, impulsivity and motor activity all at the same time to support ADHD diagnosis in children.
ADHD is a behavioural disorder that includes symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness and affects around 5% of school-aged children worldwide. If undiagnosed and /or untreated ADHD can have a significant impact on personal development, academic outcomes and social interaction. In the UK children wait on average 18 months from their first appointment to receiving a formal ADHD diagnosis.
Using the objective assessment tool as part of the assessment of ADHD in children and young people supports faster diagnosis. We supported a 12-month, real-world demonstrator project, where the test was deployed and evaluated in three East Midlands trusts.
The evaluation found that using the test to supplement current clinical assessment processes reduced the time taken for a diagnostic decision to be made by approximately five months. It removed one appointment needed to make the diagnosis for each referral. Furthermore 94% of clinicians and 85% of patients found the tool to be helpful, showing collectively how the programme can improve the experience for children and their families as well as save time and money for the health and care system.
The impacts from our work in the East Midlands has led to a national roll out of the programme via the AHSN Network across the country meaning even more children and health and care organisations will benefit from the innovation.
