Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects people of all ages, although it typically originates in childhood.

A clinical diagnosis of ADHD requires multiple symptoms which include trouble concentrating, being excessively fidgety, and thinking or behaving impulsively.

These symptoms onset early in life, can be observed in different settings (for example, home and school or work) and interfere with functioning (such as social relationships, school work).

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of people clinically recognised as having ADHD. But in the UK, rates of clinical recognition and treatment remain lower than the rate of actual ADHD in the population.

To understand why there has been an increase in ADHD referrals, and to address some of the challenges currently facing people with ADHD and their families, last year NHS England launched a taskforce to take a deep-dive into some of these issues and develop recommendations.

We have been clear from the start: the taskforce must be driven by lived experience and clinical expertise.

NHS England led a public engagement event conducted by Healthwatch UK, where members of the public with ADHD were invited to participate. Participants were asked to identify priorities for the taskforce and to consider what sort of expertise we needed to include on the taskforce – and that’s how the taskforce’s focus and membership were decided.

Embedding the voice of people with lived experience remains central to our mission and how we work. To enable this, we created an Experts by Experience group, where individuals and representatives from ADHD voluntary sector organisations across the UK were invited to participate.

As we want our work to be based on contemporary research evidence, we also created a group of experts working in the field of ADHD research, who have been linking up with additional scientists across the UK to help us develop the recommendations.

And finally, to ensure work reflects day to day clinical practice across England we have also been working with NHS England’s Clinical Reference Group on ADHD.

However, there are so many more we want to hear from to ensure as many people’s voices as possible are heard. For this reason, we will soon be launching a short survey, which has been designed by those with lived experience.

The ADHD taskforce has been meeting for several months now, and I am tremendously grateful to the ADHD community, clinicians, scientists, everyone involved in the taskforce and the team at NHS England for their hard work and dedication. I am so thankful for those who have already contributed and those who will have the chance to contribute as we move forward with wider engagement.

What have I observed so far during the life of the taskforce?

Firstly: the tremendous enthusiasm and dedication of those who are contributing to the Taskforce and the many offers of help from the wider community. So many people are dedicating enormous effort and their own time to think about key issues around ADHD and working closely together in teams to consider what ‘good might look like’.

The second observation is that, although we include people from many different backgrounds, there is a surprising level of consistency in views from people with lived experience, clinicians, scientists and others about how ADHD support and services need to change and how this might translate into recommendations.

ADHD impacts are wider than health alone.

The initial phase of work has already identified challenges including issues around the join-up across ADHD services and interrelated policies across healthcare, education, the workplace and the justice system.

The recommendations put forward by the taskforce will require action across government and cross-sector organisations to facilitate transformation across society to improve the lives of people with ADHD.

I am pleased to share that I have also recently joined the Department for Education Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, and the Chair of that group attends our NHS England-led taskforce to ensure we are aligned.

The taskforce is also linked in with the new Department for Work and Pensions expert panel on employment prospects for neurodivergent people, and work on neurodivergence at the Ministry of Justice.

The ADHD Taskforce plans to publish an interim report in Spring 2025 with the intention of setting out a few early principles for the main report that is planned for Summer 2025.

We know the publication of reports doesn’t solve issues overnight. But we all hope that they provide hope for the future for people living with ADHD, their families and the clinicians who work with them – and just as importantly, chart a credible plan around which we can galvanise people and organisations to deliver the improvements we all want to see.