Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to issue serious shortage protocols for (a) lisdexamfetamine and (b) methylphenidate.

We are aware of disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of ADHD. While serious shortage protocols (SSPs) can be a useful tool to help manage and mitigate medicine and medical device shortages, they cannot be used for all patients and all medicines. Further, they are only issued if there is sufficient supply of suitable, alternative medicines, otherwise issuing an SSP risks causing a ‘knock on’ shortage of the alternative. For these reasons, there are currently no plans to issue SSPs for ADHD medicines, including lisdexamfetamine and methylphenidate.

We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working intensively with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the UK, in the short and long term.

We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines.