ADHD care to transfer to GPs

Children with ADHD may soon be treated by their GPs rather than by hospital specialists, the Taranaki District Health Board says.

The move is one of the first of a succession of Taranaki health services about to be shifted from expensive hospital-based care into the community.

The hospital arm of the DHB is hard at work finding ways to cut its $7m deficit and live within its means.

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) children are currently treated by paediatric specialists through Taranaki Base Hospital's child and adolescent mental health services.

General hospital manager Joy Farley told the hospital committee meeting yesterday the project was very exciting.

Taranaki was seen as a leader in the treatment of ADHD and the results would be shared nationally.

One "stumbling block" yet to be worked through was the cost for parents.

While some families would have no difficulty with GP co-payments, others could see it as a barrier to accessing services, Ms Farley said.

Health Minister Tony Ryall, who is driving the move to more community-based health services, has stated such moves will not cost patients.

Ms Farley said the ADHD project was set in train in April and to date the feedback from hospital teams and GPs to the shared-care proposal was positive. Deputy chairman and GP Peter Catt said the process for the child patients and their families would be carefully handled in a well-organised rollout. "They will not be dumped on the community."

It would be good for the children to be seen by their GPs and would also free up specialists to care for child patients with greater needs, Dr Catt said.

Ms Farley agreed and said it was a good example of finding other less expensive ways of doing things and also a way to deal with staff shortages.

The new ADHD process was expected to be developed by December.

Meanwhile, there was still a lot of work to do to pull the hospital arm of the DHB out of the red, Ms Farley said.

The hospital arm ended the financial year with a deficit of $7.8m, similar to that posted last year, she said. The hospital had budgeted for a $6.5m deficit.

"It is not sustainable for the long term."

A lot of work was still under way to change how services were being delivered.

To date 12 reviews of hospital services, similar to that now in place in Hawera Hospital, had now been completed and all had been put into effect.

A major example was the "Better, Sooner, More Convenient" project which would assist primary-secondary (hospital-community) integration, Ms Farley said.

"Fundamentally they are about looking for structural change to do things quite differently."

- © Fairfax NZ News