To ask the Minister of Health to detail the action his Department is taking to ensure the continued supply of methylphenidate to people with ADHD.

While supply disruptions of some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatments have now been resolved, there continues to be some ongoing disruptions across the UK affecting various preparations and strengths of methylphenidate, with anticipated resupply dates for those products affected to resolve between May and September 2024.

As stated in AQW 7479/22-27, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), who leads on the maintenance of medicine supply chains to the UK, works closely with the pharmaceutical industry, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the devolved administrations, including my Department and relevant stakeholders to put in place mitigation measures when any disruptions arise.

Guidance, which has been agreed by UK administrations, was issued by my Department to healthcare professionals providing them with actions to take during this period of supply disruption to ensure patients continue to have access to treatments.

A list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products has been published to assist healthcare professionals prescribing these medications on the Specialist Pharmacy Service’s (SPS) website-

https://www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/prescribing-available-medicines-to-treat-adhd/. Healthcare professionals can also register with SPS to access SPS medicine supply tool for information on shortages and resupply dates of affected products. These resources are updated regularly by DHSC, and my Department has encouraged healthcare professionals to use these resources.

If a patient has insufficient supplies to last until the anticipated re-supply date and is unable to source their prescribed strength and/ or preparation of methylphenidate, then the patient should contact their prescriber who can provide them with appropriate advice on their management options.