The GSD have welcomed the news that five new Senior Paediatric Support Workers have joined the Children’s Health Centre.  

A statement from the GSD follows below:

The addition of these much-needed specialists has been long awaited, and it is hoped will make a significant difference,  in particular, to children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),  and their families. 

Shadow Minister for Health, Joelle Ladislaus MP said: 

“There has long been a shortfall in the provision by the GHA of services for children with an ADHD or ASD diagnosis,  or those suspected of having either of these disorders, which often leads to understandable frustration for parents  and carers, as they watch them suffer the consequences of long delays and a lack of therapeutic support. Early  intervention and support are crucial to the development of children who suffer from these disorders and will go a long  way to ensuring a better quality of life for them now, and in future.  

As a person with ADHD, and having been diagnosed privately as an adult, I can only hope that this initiative will result  in less children falling through the cracks and struggling for most of their lives, only to be diagnosed in later life, having  missed out on all the benefits that specialised support in their developmentally crucial years would have afforded  them. This is a step in the right direction, and we now look forward to welcoming similar initiatives for the provision  and improvement of adult services relating to ADHD and ASD, where there is a significant need and a serious lack of  provision of services and lack of support. I have personally offered my assistance to the Hon. Minister for Health, in  particular in the development of a pathway for the diagnosis of ADHD in adults, and I now reiterate that.”