Dear Chief Executive,

As I expect you are aware, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published on 24 September 2008 the Clinical Guidelines 72 (CG72) “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children, young people and adults.” CG72 is available online at www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/CG72.

These Guidelines, using the criteria of DSM-IV, estimate conservatively that 2% of adults are impacted by ADHD which means that since xxxxxxxxx currently has an estimated population of 177,872, of which approximately 96,305 are adults between 20 to 59 years of age, you can expect about 1,926 adults to be affected by ADHD. It should also be noted that the total population for xxxxxxxxxx is projected to increase.

Most adult sufferers of ADHD, however, are not properly diagnosed or treated. In addition, these sufferers will also have at least one co-morbid disorder such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, or substance abuse. Undiagnosed and untreated adults with ADHD may underachieve academically, experience higher rates of employment problems, are at increased risk for substance abuse, spend more time in the penal system, have more accidents, and have higher rates of contact with mental health services (the latter results from misdiagnosis), all of which have associated cost implications. In other words, it will cost the Government and the NHS less to properly diagnose and treat adults with ADHD.

Since there is already an adult ADHD clinic in xxxx provided by xxxxxxx NHS Trust that provides assessments for adults with suspected ADHD, I would like to urge you to work with this clinic/specialist in your commissioning role to develop services for adults with ADHD that are in line with the recommendations in CG72 as well as with national priorities.

I have enclosed a brief listing of some of the recommendations from CG72 as well as a listing of relevant legislation. Could you please let me know how far you have progressed with implementing CG72 specifically with regard to assessing diagnosing and treating adults with ADHD.

I would be grateful if you could respond to me no later than
. . . .

Yours sincerely,

Enclosures

cc: Dr Medical Director or Dr Chairman of the Professional Executive Committee