West Yorkshire ADHD charity fears for future amid soaring demand

An ADHD charity in West Yorkshire is unable to cope with soaring demand for its services, its boss has warned.

The West Yorkshire ADHD Support Group helps adults and children with the condition, as well as their family and carers.

But CEO Corrine Hunter said the charity had been struggling to meet demand even before the local NHS trust had put non-urgent ADHD assessment referrals on hold in October, instead pointing people to organisations such as the support group.

Ms Hunter said since then, the phone had been “ringing off the hook” and the charity did not have the capacity to meet the increasing demand, meanwhile its National Lottery funding was also due to run out at the end of the year.

In a letter sent to thousands of people in October, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said it was temporarily closing its ADHD assessment service to non-urgent new referrals while it dealt with a backlog of more than 4,500 patients.

The trust said it had capacity for 16 assessments per month, but the number of referrals was “over 10 times” the number it could realistically see.

“If someone was to join the waiting list today, it would take well over 10 years for them to be seen by the Leeds Adult ADHD service,” a spokesperson said.

The trust said action had to be taken to address the “extremely high” demand, and had urged those facing the “unsustainably long” backlog to contact organisations like the West Yorkshire ADHD Support Group.

However, Ms Hunter said the charity had not been forewarned it was going to be recommended.

“That was a shock to us on that first day when the phone started ringing off the hook,” she said.

“Across West Yorkshire, there are an awful lot of people with ADHD, and we are the only support service there is.

“We’re a small charity. We’ve got a small handful of part-time staff and some very very good willing volunteers, but we don’t have capacity to meet all of the demand.”

Ms Hunter added that the support group was funded by the National Lottery over a three-year cycle and the latest phase of funding was due to expire later this year.

Abbey Parrinello, who uses the services of the West Yorkshire ADHD Support Group with her four-year-old son, said she would be “losing a safety net” if its work could not continue.

Ms Parrinello, from Shipley, said the “tailored” help she received from the support group “would be difficult to get elsewhere”.

The 30-year-old said it took her four years to get a diagnosis for ADHD, while her son had been on the waiting list for an assessment for more than a year.

“I went 28 years being undiagnosed and untreated, and I know the effect that had on me.

“It would mean he’d go through primary school and high school with no additional support, and without an educational health care plan if he needed one.

“He might not do as well in school as he could, and he does have a lot of potential.”

A spokesperson for Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said it was “continuing to work with partners to address extremely high levels of demand and an unsustainably long waiting list”.

Meanwhile, the trust had been “open and honest” with those wanting an assessment, they added.