NHS England's new cross-sector
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Taskforce will be co-chaired by Professor Anita Thapar and
Joanna Killian, the NHS has announced today.
The new taskforce, launched together with government, brings
together those with lived experience and experts from the NHS,
local government as well as education, charity and justice
sectors to gain a better understanding of the challenges
affecting those with ADHD, including access to services and
rising demand.
Professor Anita
Thapar is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a
clinician scientist and is a professor at the Division of
Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff
University. She is currently co-chair on the Welsh Government
Neurodivergence Ministerial Advisory Group and on the Welsh
government clinical advisory group for ADHD assessment and
support. She also sits on the board of the UK national charity
the ADHD Foundation and is a member of the UK Embracing
Complexity Neurodivergence Steering Group.
Joanna Killian is Chief
Executive of the Local Government Association (LGA) and was
previously Chair of the Board of St Mungo's, the UK homelessness
charity. She has more than 30 years' experience in the
public sector, including as chief executives at Surrey and
Essex County Councils. In June 2021, as part of the Government's
intervention of Liverpool City Council, Joanna was appointed by
the Secretary of State as Local Government Improvement
Commissioner, a role she finished in March 2024 as she joined the
LGA.
Under Anita and Joanna's guidance the Taskforce will look at ways
of improving ADHD pathways and patient experience as well as
making recommendations for reform.
Professor Anita Thapar said: “I am delighted to
jointly lead this taskforce with my co-chair Joanna
Killian. One of our first roles will be to appoint the
Taskforce membership. Central to our membership we will
have people with lived experience guiding us and providing
insight. They will be working alongside many experts who
together can make a difference to improving ADHD services across
England.”
Joanna Killian said: “I am delighted to be asked
to co-chair the taskforce. ADHD is a condition that affects
people's day to day lives in many different ways and there is
increasing demand for support and information. Councils provide a
range of care to children and adults with ADHD, working with
local housing, health, education and voluntary sector partners.
The taskforce is an important opportunity for national partners
to work together to ensure services meet the needs of people of
all ages with ADHD in the future.”
The members will be announced in due course, and the taskforce
expects to report later this year.
Since December, NHS England has been focusing on ADHD with senior
clinicians and system leaders from across the
country. Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England
will continue to work with stakeholders to:
- develop a national ADHD data improvement plan;
- carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and
commissioning landscape; and
- capture examples from local health systems which are
trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and to
ensure best practice is captured and shared across the
system.
Steve Russell, Chief Delivery Officer at NHS England,
said: “The NHS launched the first cross-sector ADHD
taskforce in response to a growth in demand for services and, as
we continue to build on that momentum, I am pleased to announce
that Anita and Joanna will jointly chair the taskforce.
“We have recognised that more needs to be done to ensure people
can get a timely diagnosis and, importantly, that all needs are
addressed. Anita and Joanna's huge wealth of expertise, backed by
the NHS, will be key to driving this important agenda forward to
improve care and support for people with ADHD.”
The NHS Long Term Plan set
out an ambitious programme to transform mental health services,
autism and learning disability. A particular focus is on boosting
community services and reducing the over reliance on inpatient
care, with these more intensive services significantly improved
and more effectively joined up with schools and councils.
