Better ADHD care in Tasmania needs to include access, safeguards and shared care
Today’s state government announcement on GP training for ADHD care highlights the urgent need to improve access to ADHD care in Tasmania, but the AMA warns any reform must be built on safe shared care between GPs, paediatricians, and psychiatrists.
This training is designed to help GPs assess, diagnose and manage ADHD in children and adults, and support applications for authorisation to initiate Schedule 8 psychostimulant prescribing. For Tasmanians, it comes against a backdrop of long waits, limited specialist access and high costs that are leaving too many people without timely care.
ADHD diagnosis is not a quick checklist or a five-minute conversation. It takes time, clinical skill and a whole-person assessment, including symptoms across the lifespan, functional impairment, co-existing conditions and consideration of other possible explanations for a person’s experience. That is why getting it right matters.
Some children and adults are clearly missing out on assessment and treatment, with serious lifelong consequences if care is delayed. Children, young people, and patients with more complex presentations must continue to have timely access to paediatric and psychiatric specialist care.
Continuity of care is one of general practice’s great strengths. GPs know the patient over time, understand the broader clinical picture, and are well placed to identify when care can be safely managed in the community and when referral or shared specialist care is needed.
Expanding access must also be matched by appropriate resourcing, including support for the longer and more complex consultations required for safe ADHD assessment and management. Training alone will not be enough. GPs taking on this work must have access to non-GP specialist advice when needed and funding that reflects the time and complexity involved.
This is not about replacing psychiatrists, paediatricians or other non-GP specialists. It is about building a practical shared-care model, where trained GPs can do more, while children and people with more complex needs continue to have access to specialised care.
AMA Tasmania Vice President Dr Meg Creely said Tasmanians should be able to access timely, evidence-based ADHD care close to home.
Dr Creely added, “Families and adults are facing long waits, high costs and very limited specialist access. It makes sense to support trained GPs to share more of this care, provided the model is safe and properly supported.
“The answer is making sure that we as a state have strong processes to help GPs and non-GP specialists work together to delivery safe and appropriate care for patients. The goal is clear: better access to ADHD care in Tasmania without compromising safety or quality.”
The success of any expanded model will depend on how it is implemented in practice, including training quality, referral pathways, specialist availability, and support for longer GP consultations. Improved patient access to ADHD care will also require action and collaboration from both State and Federal governments to support safe implementation, training, specialist pathways, and Medicare reform and workforce investment that enable longer, more complex care. >>>ENDS
